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ANNALS  OF 


KNOX  COUNTY 


Commemorating  Centennial  of 

Admission  of  Illinois  as  a 

State  of  the  Union 

in  1818 


^ 


AUTHORIZED  BY  THE  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS 


ANNALS  OF 


KNOX  COUNTY 


Commemorating  Centennial  of 

Admission  of  Illinois  as  a 

State  of  the  Union 

in   1818 


^ 


AUTHORIZED  BY  THE  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS 


REPUBLICAN  REGISTER  PRINT 

GALESBURG,  ILLINOIS   ■ 


PREFACE 


This  book  is  the  product  of  the  attempt  in  1918  to  cele- 
brate the  Centennial  of  the  admission  of  Illinois  to  Statehood. 
In  accordance  with  a  state-wide  movement,  designed  to  pre- 
serve the  annals  of  all  the  counties,  and  properly  to  commem- 
orate the  creation  of  Illinois  as  a  State,  the  County  Judge, 
Walter  C  Frank,  Superintendent  of  Schools  W.  F.  Boyes, 
State's  Attorney  A.  J.  Boutelle,  County  Clerk  Frank  L.  Adams 
and  A.  0.  Lindstrum,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors, 
were  designated  by  the  Hon.  Hugh  Magill,  who  had  the  State 
work  in  charge,  to  form  in  this  county  a  Knox  County  Centen- 
nial Historical  Association,  which  should  originate  and  carry 
out  in  the  schools  of  the  county  fitting  programs,  and  which 
should  arrange  for  the  collection  of  material  for  township  an- 
nals, that  should,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors, be  published  and  be  preserved  in  the  schools  and  librar- 
ies of  the  county  and  in  the  State  Historical  Library. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  January  22,  1918,  the  County  Cen- 
tennial Historical  Association  was  formed  with  Superintendent 
W.  F.  Boyes  as  president  and  Fred  R.  Jelliff  as  secretary,  and 
with  the  following  advisory  committee:  Mrs.  A.  J.  Boutelle, 
president  of  the  Galesburg  Woman's  Club;  Mrs.  G.  W.  Thomp- 
son, Mrs.  T.  C.  Minehan,  George  A-  Lawrence,  Fred  R.  Jelliff, 
William  Pearson,  president  of  the  Galesburg  Trades  and  Labor 
Assembly;  Professor  D.  E.  Watkins,  of  Knox  College;  Presi- 
dent J.  M.  Tilden,  of  Lombard  College,  and  W.  F.  Boyes. 

At  a  meeting  of  this  committee  on  February  5th,  1918, 
there  was  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of  Professor 
Watkins,  Mrs.  Thompson  and  Mr.  Jelliff,  authorized  to  arrange 
for  the  material  for  the  township  annals.  Requests  were  sent 
to  a  well  qualified  person  in  each  township  in  March,  1918,  and 
in  nearly  every  instance  there  was  a  cheerful  response.  The 
late  W.  L.  Steele,  so  long  superintendent  of  schools  of  Gales- 
burg, was  deputized  to  prepare  a  general  review  of  the  county 
annals,  while  Mrs.  R.  W.  Colville,  Mrs-  Martha  Farnham  Web- 
ster and  George  A.  Lawrence  were  authorized  to  arrange  for 
the  marking  of  historical  points  in  this  county. 

The  advisory  committee,  of  which  W.  F.  Boyes  was  chair- 
man, also  considered  and  outlined  an  elaborate  program  of 
celebrations  for  the  schools  of  the  counuty,  which  was  to  cul- 
minate in  a  stately  and  beautiful  pageant  in  Galesburg  with 
the  entire  county  as  guests.  All  plans,  however,  were  inter- 
rupted by  the  dreadful    epidemic   of   influenza,   which    swept 

I  141937 


through  the  county  the  fall  and  winter  of  1918,  bringing  sor- 
row to  many  scores  of  homes.  The  pageant  and  many  other 
features  of  the  year's  program  had  to  be  abandoned.  Schools 
generally  were  closed  to  prevent  the  contagion  from  spreading. 

Meanwhile  several  of  the  township  historians  died.  Su- 
perintendent Steele  suddenly  passed  away.  Illness  and  other 
causes  delayed  some.  The  committee,  however,  f eit  that  it  was 
due  to  those  who  had  so  generously  prepared  manuscripts,  to 
persevere  in  the  preparation  of  material,  with  the  result,  that 
due  to  the  generosity  of  the  Board  of  Supei*visors,  the  publica- 
tion is  at  last  made. 

The  committee  is  under  great  obligations  to  all  who  have 
contributed  annals,  and  to  all  others  who  have  in  any  way 
assisted. 

FRED  R.  JELLIFF,  Secretary 
WALTER  F.  BOYES,  Chairman 


KNOX  COUNTY  ANNALS 

By  FRED  R.  JELLIFF 

Knox  County  was  named  after  General  Henry  Knox  and 
was  established  as  a  county,  January  13,  1825. 

Knox  county  has  had  several  and  varied  shapes.  Under 
the  division  of  Illinois,  made  in  1790,  more  than  the  east  half 
of  that  part  of  the  State  south  of  the  Illinois  river  was  known 
as  Knox  county.  Changes  and  further  subdivisions  were 
made  in  1793,  1801,  1803,  1809  Then  the  name  drops  out.  In 
the  subdivisions  of  1801,  1803  and  1809,  its  territory  was  in- 
cluded in  St.  Clair  county.  In  1812  and  1813,  the  subdivision 
covering  much  the  same  ground,  was  called  Madison  county, 
and  in  this  the  Knox  territory  was  included  until  1821,  when 
that  part  of  the  State  lying  between  the  Illinois  and  Mississ- 
ippi river  was  called  Pike  county.  In  1823,  Pike  county  was 
cut  down,  and  Fulton  county  was  laid  out  so  as  to  include  the 
south  four  townships  of  Knox.  The  rest  of  the  land  compris- 
ing Knox  county  and  the  territory  north  and  east  was  attached 
to  Fulton  county  for  judicial  purposes. 

January  13,  1825,  Knox  county  was  formed  by  act  of  the 
legislature,  covering  the  same  territory  as  at  present  (the  four 
townships  at  the  south  being  accorded  it),  save  that  the  four 
north  townships  were  attached  to  Henry  county.  This  gave 
Knox  sixteen  townships.  In  1831,  however,  the  row  of  town- 
ships on  the  north  was  restored  to  Knox  and  two  on  the  east 
were  added.  March  2,  1839,  these  two  east  two  townships  were 
allotted  Stark  county.  This  change  in  the  boundaries  of  the 
county  occasioned  interesting  incidents  of  travel,  business  and 
politics  in  the  early  history  of  this  section. 

The  land  comprising  Knox  County  has  been  under  ten  ter- 
ritorial jurisdictions,  two  of  them  being  under  extinct  races, 
one  under  the  Indian  race,  one  under  France,  one  under  Eng- 
land, one  under  Virginia,  one  a  territory  of  the  United  States, 
one  the  territory  of  Indiana,  one  the  territory  of  Illinois  and 
lastly,  the  State  of  Illinois. 

The  history  of  Knox  county  is  one  that  reflects  honor  on 
Illinois  for  it  has  been  marked  by  devotion  to  high  ideals.  Illi- 
nois was  orginally  a  part  of  the  northwest  territory  which  by 
the  ordinance  of  1787  was  made  free  soil.  As  a  county  of  the 
State  Knox  has  shared  this  blessing.  Illinois  was  admitted' to 
the  Union  in  1818,  and  the  issuance  of  this  book  is  to  commem- 
orate the  centennial  of  that  event.  By  the  act  of  June  30,  1821, 
Pike  county  was  created,  including  the  area  north  and  west 
of  the  Illinois  river.     By  the  act  of  Februaiy  10,  1826,  Knox 


County  was  attached  to  Fulton  county  for  governmental  pur- 
poses. May  15,  1830,  a  public  meeting  was  held  at  the  store 
of  S.  S.  White,  in  Henderson,  to  consider  the  question  of 
county  organization.  Dr.  Hansford  and  John  G-  Sanburn,  were 
authorized  to  address  a  petition  for  the  organization  of  Knox 
county  to  Richard  M.  Young,  judge  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  Cir- 
cuit. This  petition  was  presented  to  Judge  Young  at  Lewis- 
town  by  Pennington,  Hansford,  Stephen  Osborn,  the  first 
sheriff  and  Phillip  Hash,  and  the  judge  was  convinced  that  the 
county  contained  350  inhabitants,  the  number  required  by  law, 
and  on  June  10,  1830,  he  declared  the  county  organized,  and 
fixed  the  date  of  the  first  election  at  July  3,  1830.  This  was 
held  at  the  home  of  Jacob  Gum,  four  miles  northwest  of 
Galesburg,  the  whole  county  forming  one  election  precinct. 

The  First  Government 

Under  the  constitution  of  1818,  county  government  was 
committed  to  three  commissioners.  On  July  3,  1830,  when 
the  county  was  organized,  Riggs  Pennington,  Philip  Hash,  and 
Charles  Hansford  were  elected,  to  serve  until  their  successors 
were  elected  the  following  month.  They  first  met  at  the  home 
of  John  B.  Gum,  appointed  him  clerk,  but  he,  declining  to 
serve,  two  days  later  they  again  met  and  appointed  John  G. 
Sanburn  clerk,  and  Mr.  Gum  treasurer.  On  July  17th,  the 
commissioners  met  again  and  divided  Knox  County  into  two 
precincts  for  the  coming  election,  one  precinct  being  known 
as  the  Henderson  and  the  other  as  the  Spoon  River  district. 
At  the  election  on  August  2,  1830,  the  first  board  of  commis- 
sioners for  a  stated  term  was  elected,  the  successful  candidates 
being  Riggs  Pennington,  Philip  Hash  and  Alexander  Frakes, 
while  Stephen  Osborn  was  elected  sheriff.  Thus  Knox  county, 
organized  and  empowered  to  choose  its  own  officers  and  col- 
lect its  own  taxes,  started  on  its  political  career.  The  com- 
missioners had  general  supervision  of  the  affairs  of  the  county. 
By  the  same  law  which  defined  its  boundaries  and  located  its 
county  seat,  Henry  county  was  attached  to  it  for  governmental 
purposes  and  so  remained  until  1837.  It  was  an  economical 
and  judicious  system.  The  county  was  then  in  its  primitive 
state,  and  roads  had  to  be  laid  out  and  constructed,  bridges  had 
to  be  built,  a  jail  and  court  house  had  to  be  provided  and  other 
large  works  undertaken,  all  of  which  seems  to  have  been  effi- 
ciently done. 

Government  By  Judges 

By  the  constitution  of  1848,  the  offices  of  county  com- 
missioners and  probate  justice  were  abolished,  and  the  office 
of  county  judge  created.  On  him  and  two  associate  judges  was 
the  power  previously  exercised  by  the  commissioners  in  county 
government,    conferred.      George    S     Lanphere    was    elected 


7 

county  judge,  and  Alfred  Brown  of  Henderson  and  James  M. 
Hunter  of  Salem  were  elected  associate  judges,  November  6, 

1849,  and  they  served  four  years.  Their  last  meeting  was 
held  on  March  4,  1853.  The  county  on  April  5,  1853,  adopted 
township  organization  and  elected  supervisors.  It  has  since 
remained  under  this  system.  There  had  been  two  previous 
attempts  to  change  the  county  government,  one  on  November 
6,  1849,  and  one  on  November  5,  1850,  but  as  tbe  majority 
secured  was  not  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  ca'^t  af  these  elec- 
tions, the  proposition  failed  to  carry. 

Township  Organization 

It  was  shortly  after  the  election  of  1849  or  on  January  14, 

1850,  that  the  people  of  the  townships  met  to  select  the  names 
for  their  respective  townships.  The  present  names  were 
adopted  save  these  of  Cedar,  Haw  Creek,  Copley  and  Elba. 
The  names  chosen  for  these  were  respectively.  Cherry  Grove, 
Ohio,  Ritchfield  and  Liberty,  but  these  the  Secretary  of  State 
refused  to  register  and  they  were  accordingly  changed  to  the 
names  they  now  bear. 

The  first  members  of  the  board  of  supervisors,  twenty  in 
number,  met  June  5,  1853,  and  elected  Daniel  Meek  as  chair- 
man. Following  are  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  historic 
First  Board: 

Indian  Point Daniel  Meek 

Cedar E.  P.  Dunlap 

Henderson Peter  Franz 

Rio R.  Heflin 

Chestnut Samuel  Collins 

Orange Asa  Haynes 

Sparta T.  H.  Taylor 

Ontario Ed  Crane 

Maquon J.  M.  Foster 

Haw  Creek W.  M  Clark 

Persifer G.  W.  Manley 

Copley J.  0.  Stanley 

Walnut  Grove Ames  Ward 

Salem S.  S.  Buffum 

Elba J.  H.  Nicholson 

Truro A,,  Lapham 

Victoria J.  L.  ^Lamagan 

Lynn J.  MjJHodgson 

Knox I.  P.  West 

Galesburg 1 W.  S.  Gale 

Honor  is  due  the  memory  of  this  first  board  for  building 
so  well  the  foundations  on  which  the  business  of  the  county 
has  been  conducted. 


8 
Growth  of  County  Business 

The  business  of  Knox  County  is  now  conducted  from 
Galesburg,  the  county  seat,  and  its  place  of  business  is  the 
stately  Court  House  Square  with  its  beautiful  embellishments 
of  lawn  and  trees  And  still  John  B.  Gum's  log  cabin  on  Sec- 
tion 32  in  Henderson  township  was  the  first  seat  of  justice  in 
the  county  and  was  so  designated  by  the  commissioners  on 
July  9,  1830.  It  was  a  one-story,  two-room  log  structure  and 
was  used  for  county  purposes  until  January  15,  1831.  By  a 
law  passed  January  15,  1831,  the  county  seat  was  fixed  in  Knox 
Township,  where  the  commissioners  platted  a  village,  that  they 
first  called  Henderson,  and  which  afterward  was  changed  to 
Knoxville.  March  12,  1831,  the  commissioners  contracted  with 
William  Lewis  to  erect  a  log  court  house  and  with  Parnach 
Owen  to  finish  it.  The  total  cost  was  $395.43.  This  lumber 
structure  was  28  feet  long,  twenty-five  feet  wide,  and  two 
stories  high.  It  was  occlupied  in  October,  1832,  It  was  soon 
outgrown  and  on  March  14,  1838,  Zelotes  Cooley  and  Alvah 
Wheeler  took  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  a  new  building 
at  Knoxville  which  was  completed  May  1,  1840.  At  the  time  it 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  handsomest  buildings  in  the  State, 
and  it  is  still  attractive  because  of  its  classical  lines.  It  was 
the  scene  of  many  noted  legal  battles,  and  men,  who  subse- 
quently became  famous  in  State  and  Nation  appeared  in  cases 
there.  A  crude  jail  was  built  in  1832  and  in  1840  another  was 
erected  by  Alvah  Wheeler.  Also  on  the  court  house  ground  at 
Knoxville  was  built  in  1854  a  fire-proof  building  containing 
two   rooms. 

County  Seat  Contest 

Meanwhile  Galesburg,  due  to  its  railroad  facilities,  was  in 
population  outstriping  Knoxville,  and  there  grew  up  a  demand 
for  the  removal  of  the  county  seat  to  the  larger  city.  A  long 
and  acrimonious  contest  ensued  that  lasted  for  years.  The  r--'al 
battle  started  with  the  passage  of  a  bill  introduced  by  W.  S. 
Gale,  of  Galesburg,  then  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  for  the 
removal  of  the  county  seat.  This  bill  became  a  law.  The  elec- 
tion under  it  was  held  in  April,  1869,  but  the  issues  were  not 
settled  until  January,  1873,  when  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois 
upheld  the  contention  of  Galesburg.  Through  the  efforto  of 
friends  of  Knoxville  another  election  was  called  and  was  held 
on  November  11,  1873,  which  resulted  in  favor  of  Galesburg  by 
a  vote  of  3,785  to  3,309.    This  ended  the  controversy. 

Under  the  stipulations  by  Galesburg,  the  county  was  to 
furnish  a  place  for  holding  court  for  ten  years,  a  site  for  a 
court  house  to  be  constructed  in  the  future,  a  site  for  a  jail  and 
$20,000  toward  its  erection,  to  provide  a  site  and  fire-proof 
building  for  a  clerk's  office,  and  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the 


transfer  of  the  effects   of  the  county   to   Galesburg,   all   of 
which  conditions  were  honorably  and  satisfactorily  met. 

The  Court  House 

The  movement  for  the  erection  of  of  a  court  house  on  the 
park  site  provided  began  in  1883  with  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  report  a  resolution.  A  building  committee  was 
appointed,  consisting  of  W.  S.  Gale,  A.  G.  Charles,  William 
Robson,  John  Sloan,  M.  B.  Hardin  and  William  H.  Leighton. 
The  next  year  the  place  of  Mr.  Charles,  who  was  no  longer  a 
member  of  the  Board,  was  filled  by  R.  W.  Miles,  and  a  year 
still  later,  L.  A.  Townsend  succeeded  M.  B.  Hardin  The  plans 
of  E.  E.  Myers  of  Chicago  were  preferred,  bids  were  finally 
passed  on  October  3,  and  the  contract  was  let  to  Dawson  & 
Anderson  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  for  $114,311.52.  The  corner-stone 
was  laid  June  24,  1885,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Masonic 
Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois.  The  edifice  was  completed  January 
26,  1887.  The  cost  all  furnished  was  $156,261,  and  when 
completed  it  was  practically  paid  for.  The  building  is  of  Berea 
sandstone,  of  a  pleasing  and  impressive  style  of  architecture, 
and  contains  all  rooms  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  all  phases 
of  the  county  business. 

The  jail  was  built  earlier  by  Ira  K.  Stevens  in  1874,  for 
$34,900,  and  Hon.  A.  W.  Berggren  was  the  first  sheriff  to 
occupy  it. 

The  County  Home 

Another  fine  institution  that  the  county  has  maintained 
for  over  sixty  years  is  the  County  Home  at  Knoxville  For 
twenty-five  years  after  the  organization  of  the  county  paupers 
were  farmed  out  to  the  lowest  bidders.  With  the  adoption  of 
the  township  system,  the  board  of  supervisors  bought  an  alms- 
house site  for  $3,000  of  M,  G.  Smith.  The  farm  house  was 
converted  into  an  almshouse  but  proved  a  wretched  makeshift. 
In  1866  the  Board  of  Supervisors  determined  to  erect  a  new 
almshouse  and  R.  W.  Miles,  L.  E.  Conger  and  Cephas  Arms 
were  appointed  a  committee  on  building.  After  some  compe- 
tition between  Galesburg  members  and  Knoxville,  the  present 
site,  adjoining  the  old  poor  farm  and  comprising  then  69  acres, 
was  purchased  for  $5,340.  The  contract  for  the  main  building 
was  let  to  William  Armstrong  for  $26,000  and  its  equipment 
and  stocking  of  the  farm  brought  the  total  to  $39,037.21. 
Parry  &  Stevens  built  the  east  wing  for  $17,400.  An  insane 
annex  was  erected  in  1890  for  $26,459  by  Peter  Munson,  and  in 
1899  an  insane  annex  for  females  was  built  by  Munson  &  Ting- 
leaf  at  a  total  cost  of  $32,000.  A  new  laundry  building  was 
built  in  1899  by  F.  W.  Hawkin  for  $16,000.  The  entire  group 
of  buildings  is  one  of  the  handsomest  in  the  state  and  the 


10 

grounds  have  been  developed  along  artistic  lines.  Many  im- 
provements on  and  in  the  buildings  have  been  made  from  time 
to  time,  so  that  they  are  supplied  with  modern  facilities. 

Growth  of  Population 

The  Indians  were  in  Illinois  before  the  Whites  and  the  early 
settlers  of  the  county  were  not  unmindful  of  their  presence. 
The  Foxes,  Sacs,  Kickapoos  and  Pottawatomies  roved  over 
the  prairies  and  their  trails  were  used  by  the  early  settlers. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Maquon  another  tribe  lived.  The  flint  im- 
plements of  the  Aboriginies  are  still  found  in  many  parts  of 
the  county.  There  are  traces  of  a  still  earlier  race  supposed  to 
be  identified  with  the  mound  builders. 

Daniel  and  Alexander  Robinson  and  Richard  Mathews, 
who  came  to  the  county  and  settled  in  the  edge  of  Henderson 
Grove  in  February,  1828,  are  credited  with  being  the  first 
permanent  settlers,  although  there  is  a  report  that  a  man 
named  Palmer,  a  bee  hunter,  lived  in  Maquon  township  in 
1826-27.  It  is  certain  that  the  first  considerable  migrations 
came  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Virginia,  and  that  they 
were  a  substantial  and  worthy  element.  The  tide  of  immigra- 
tion from  the  east  set  in  in  1836  and  with  the  coming  of  the 
Galesburg  colony  in  1836,  the  movement  of  population  was 
accelerated. 

Meanwhile  in  the  early  annals  of  the  county,  the  Black 
Hawk  War  from  1831  to  1833,  growing  out  of  the  belief  of  the 
Indians  that  they  had  been  unfairly  dealt  with,  was  the  out- 
standing event.  In  this  county  a  company  was  raised,  to  assist 
in  the  war,  and  several  forts  were  erected,  one  known  as  Fort 
Aggie,  on  Section  27,  in  Rio  township ;  Fort  Lewis,  on  Section 
33,  Henderson  township;  an  unnamed  fort  on  Section  10,  in 
Henderson  township,  and  one  in  Orange  township.  No  harm 
came  to  the  settlers,  although  the  period  was  one  of  much 
stress  and  many  alarms. 

In  addition  to  the  immigration  from  the  South  and  East 
following  the  founding  of  Henderson,  Knoxville  and  Galesburg 
and  the  founding  of  Knox  College,  the  establishment  of  gov- 
ernment, and  the  improvement  of  highways,  there  came  groups 
of  foreigners.  The  Swedes  appear  to  have  been  first  on  the 
field,  John  Hedstrom  arriving  in  Victoria  as  early  as  1838 
But  the  steady  stream  did  not  set  in  until  the  completion  of  the 
C.,  B.  &  Q.  railroad  to  Galesburg  in  1854,  from  which  time  for 
several  years  the  growth  was  rapid.  This  transportation  en- 
terprise with  the  branches  soon  afterward  constructed  from 
Galesburg  and  making  access  to  markets  easy,  gave  a  tremend- 
ous impetus  to  agriculture,  to  the  building  up  of  towns,  and  to 
industrial  interests-    Settlement,  before  desultory,  now  became 


11 

rapid.  Educational  and  religious  growth  kept  pace.  The 
large  Swedish  emigration  was  augmented  by  sturdy  colonists 
from  Scotland,  by  the  warm-hearted  and  eager  companies  from 
Ireland,  and  by  the  quotas  from  Germany  and  England.  The 
following  figures  speak  eloquently  of  the  growth  of  the  county : 

Date  Population 

1830  400 

1840  7,080 

1850  13,279  ■ 

1860  28,663 

1870  39,522 

1880  38,344 

1890  38,752 

1900  43,612 

1910  46,159 

1920  46,678 

This  shows  that  for  two  decades  between  1870  and  1890 
the  population  was  nearly  stationary.  The  building  of  the 
Santa  Fe  late  in  the  80's  and  other  causes  again  produced  a 
steady  growth  in  population. 

The  fact  that  in  the  county  there  was  previous  to  the  Civil 
War  a  strong  anti-slavery  sentiment  caused  a  movement  of 
Negroes  this  way,  and  this  continued  after  the  Civil  War, 
resulting  in  a  large  Negro  population,  especially  in  Galesburg, 
where  the  Negroes  have  their  own  churches  and  where  they 
have  proved  an  industrious  and  useful  element. 

Of  late  years  the  character  of  immigration  has  changed. 
That  from  Sweden,  Ireland,  Scotland  and  England  has  become 
negligible,  while  that  from  the  southern  part  of  Europe  pre- 
dominates. In  Galesburg,  more  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
county,  these  concentrate.  Italians,  Hungarians,  Roumanians, 
Greeks  and  many  others  not  listed  in  the  census.  Mexican 
laborers  have  in  considerable  degree  supplanted  other  races  on 
the  railroads.  It  is  this  large  need  of  common  labor  that  is  in 
great  measure  responsible  for  this  draft  on  Southern  Europe. 
The  fact  that  they  are  proving  a  worthy  element  is  dissipating 
the  prejudice  first  created. 

The  Municipalities 

Following  are  the  dates  of  platting  and  founding  of  the 
municipalities  of  the  county : 

Rio Platted  in  1871 

Oneida Sept.  1,  1854 

Altona 1854 

Victoria May  11,  1849 

Wataga In  Spring  of  1854 


12 

Henderson June  11,  1835 

Knoxville Aug.  7,  1830 

Appleton Spring,  1888 

Dahinda Summer,  1888 

Williamsfield April  24,  1888 

Gilson July  10,  1857 

Belong   1882 

Abingdon   1836 

St.   Augustine 1854 

Hermon May  3,  1842 

Rapatee    1883 

Maquon Oct.  24,  1836;  Inc.,  1857 

Douglas Oct.  17,  1856 

Uniontown June  4,  1839 

Yates  City Oct-  20,  1857 

The  influence  of  railroad  construction  is  clearly  evident  in 
the  foregoing. 

Statistics  of  Population 

The  following  figures  of  the  population  of  the  county  and 
townships  as  given  in  the  census  returns  of  1890,  1900,  1910 
and  1920  will  be  found  interesting. 

1920 
Knox  County 46,678 

Townships : 

Cedar 2,616 

Chestnut   751 

Copley   691 

Elba   558 

Galesburg   1,111 

Haw  Creek 788 

Henderson    988 

Indian  Point 1,624 

Knox   2,955 

Lynn    608 

Maquon   1,108 

Ontario    1,211 

Orange    662 

Persifer 787 

Rio   734 

Salem   1,360 

Sparta   1,142 

Truro 1,005 

Victoria 1,091 

Walnut  Grove 1,103 


1910 

1900 

1890 

46,159 

43,612 

38,752 

2,543 

2,220 

1,574 

748 

877 

919 

799 

923 

910 

619 

725 

775 

1,029 

951 

708 

826 

875 

951 

1,076 

1,162 

1,218 

1,516 

1,607 

1,496 

3,263 

3,366 

2,677 

673 

719 

742 

1,187 

1,250 

1,330 

1,252 

1,405 

1,137 

791 

868 

851 

881 

759 

711 

899 

886 

925 

1,416 

1,579 

1,677 

1,102 

1,298 

1,293 

1,194 

1,129 

865 

1,047 

1,126 

1,179 

1,209 

1,280 

1,350 

13 

Municipalities: 

Abingdon,   City   2,721  2,464  2,022  1,321 

Altona,  Village 506  528  633  654 

East  Galesburg,  Village 566  753  663 

Galesburg,  City 23,785  22,089  18,607  15,264 

Henderson,  Village 156  171  170  163 

Knoxville,  City 1,708  1,818  1,857  1,728 

Maquon,  Village 441  472  475  501 

Oneida,  City 563  589  785  699 

St.  Augustine,  Village 195  187  229  255 

Victoria,  Village 415  334  329  308 

Wataga,  Village 459  444  545  586 

Williamsfield,  Village 435  480  447 

Yates  City,  Village 582  586  650  687 

These  figures  show  that  in  1890,  there  lived  in  the  muni- 
cipalities of  the  county  22,166  people,  and  on  the  farms, 
15,586;  in  1900,  there  lived  on  the  farms  16,700  and  in  the 
municipalities,  27,412  in  1910,  the  municipal  population  was 
30,933  and  the  farm  12,679,  and  in  1920,  the  municipal  popula- 
tion is  32,347  and  the  farm  population  is  14,363. 

The  Religious  Growth 

The  early  settlers  of  Knox  county,  no  matter  what  their 
origin  were  religiously  inclined,  and  in  an  early  day  the  move- 
ment for  the  establishment  of  churches  gained  momentum. 
According  to  some,  the  Methodists  were  first  in  the  field,  and 
organized  a  society  in  the  neighborhood  of  Abingdon  in  1829 
and  1830,  from  which  the  Methodist  church  at  Abingdon  de- 
veloped. In  1836  and  1837,  the  First  Presbyterian  church  was 
organized  by  the  Galesburg  colonists  and  this  afterward  grew 
into  the  Old  First  Church,  with  Congregational  tendencies. 
The  county  within  the  next  twenty  years  became  a  field  for 
active  missionary  effort  and  by  1860  the  religious  work  of 
the  county  was  fully  organized.  Some  of  the  early  pioneer 
churches  no  longer  exist,  but  there  is  no  denying  that  the 
county  is  well  supplied  with  all  needful  agencies  for  effective 
religious  work. 

As  many  as  sixty-five  churches  have  done  Christian  work 
in  its  confines  and  nearly  all  of  these  are  in  operation  at  the 
present  time.  In  addition  in  some  communities,  there  have 
been  occasional  services  and  Sunday  Schools  have  been  main- 
tained in  many  communities  where  there  were  no  churches. 

The  Knoxville  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  in  1835. 
The  Lutherans  began  their  fine  work  in  1851,  when  the  first 
Lutheran  Church  of  Galesburg  was  organized.  The  first  Epis- 
copalian church  was  that  in  Knoxville,  organized  in  1843.  The 
first  Catholic  parish  in  the  county  was  formed  at  St.  Augus- 


14 

tine  in  1844.  The  Baptists  organized  a  church  in  Galesburg  in 
1848.  The  Universalists  formed  a  congregation  in  Galesburg 
in  1857.  Christian  Scientists  organized  in  Galesburg  in  1886. 
The  Abingdon  Congregational  Church  dates  back  to  1835  and 
the  Victoria  to  1841  Among  the  later  comers  are  the  United 
Brethren,  the  Jewish  Church  in  Galesburg,  the  Salvation  Army, 
the  Seven  Day  Adventists  and  the  Latter  Day  Saints. 

The  Methodists  probably  lead  at  present  in  the  number 
of  congregations  in  the  county,  with  the  Congregationalists 
next. 

The  coming  of  the  railroad  gave  added  impetus  to  the 
organization  of  religious  work  in  the  county,  and  many 
churches  date  from  about  that  time. 

There  have  been  during  the  nearly  ninety  years  since 
Christian  work  began  in  Knox  county  many  revivals,  some  of 
them  of  great  magnitude  and  large  results. 

It  is  a  matter  of  historical  interest  that  the  first  Swedish 
Methodist  church  in  the  United  States  was  organized  in  Vic- 
toria. 

School  Development 

The  educational  facilities  of  Knox  county  are  equalled  by 
but  a  few  in  the  Central  West.  Colleges,  Academies,  High 
Schools,  Community  Schools,  Township  High  Schools  and  the 
County  Schools,  all  combine  to  furnish  close  at  hand  the  means 
of  mental  growth  and  acquisition.  All  this  has  taken  place 
since  Franklin  B.  Barber  taught  school  at  Henderson  Grove 
in  1830.  The  real  development  began  with  the  appointment  of 
William  McMurtry  as  commissioner  to  sell  lands  in  this  county 
for  school  pui-poses  under  the  act  of  1831.  The  first  school 
district  land  formed  was  that  of  1837  at  Log  City,  the  second 
was  the  Hague  district,  south  of  Galesburg.  Indian  Point  dis- 
trict was  the  third. 

The  system  of  Public  Schools  was  created  by  the  Act  of 
1855.  More  direct  supervision  of  the  schools  began  that  year 
under  P.  H.  Sanford,  afterward  county  judge.  At  the  present 
time  this  office  of  county  superintendent  of  schools  is  ably 
filled  by  Walter  F.  Boyes. 

The  first  High  School  in  the  county  was  that  established 
in  Galesburg  in  1 867  and  it  was  in  that  early  day  regarded  as  a 
remarkable  achievement. 

The  following  shows  the  present  status  of  the  schools  of 
the  county: 


15 
Knox  County  School  Facts 

Number  of  persons  under  21  years  of  age 16,002 

Number  of  persons  of  school  age,  to  twenty-one 11,517 

Number  enrolled  in  elementally  schools 8,087 

In  High  schools 1,542 

Total  enrollment 9,629 

High  school  enrollment  is  16%  of  total. 

Number  of  school  buildings 192 

Number  of  one-room  schools  in  session  this  year 151 

Number  of  High  schools 11 

District  High   schools 3 

Township  High  schools 2 

Community  High  Schools 4 

Three  year  High  Schools  in  Non-High  school  district 2 

Total  number  of  teachers 384 

High  Schools: 

District — Galesburg,  Knoxville,  Abingdon 

Township — Altona,  Gilson. 

Community — Oneida,  Wataga,  Williamsfield,  Yates  City. 

In  Non-High  School  District — Maquon,  Victoria. 

Community  Consolidated  districts  are  being  organized 
around  Victoria,  Rio  and  Rapatee. 

Supplementing  this  fine  and  developing  system  are  the 
following  colleges  and  academic  institutions,  with  the  dates  of 
their  charters  or  origin : 

Knox  College — Galesburg,  1837 

Lombard  College — Galesburg,  February  15,  1851. 

Hedding  College — Abingdon,  1851. 

St.  Mary's  School— Knoxville,  1868. 

St.  Alban's  School— Knoxville,  1890. 

St.  Martha's  School— Knovxille,  1914 

Brown's  Business  College — Galesburg,  1864. 

St.  Joseph's  Academy — Galesburg,  1879. 

Corpus  Christi  College — Galesburg,  1893. 

St.  Mary's  School— Galesburg,  1907. 

In  addition  the  Galesburg  Lutherans  have  maintained 
from  an  early  day  a  parochial  school. 

The  group  of  Episcopal  institutions  at  Knoxville,  St  Mary's, 
St.  Alban's  and  St.  Martha's  were  founded  by  Rev.  C.  W  Lef- 
fingwell,  D.  D. 

The  three  Catholic  institutions  of  Galesburg  were  pro- 
moted by  the  Rev.  Father  Joseph  Costa. 


,    .  IG 

Railroads  of  Knox  County 

The  first  railroad  in  Knox  county  was  that  extending  from 
Chicago  to  Galesburg  and  completed  in  1854  and  developing 
later  into  the  C,  B.  &  Q.  For  years  subsequently  railroad 
development  was  confined  in  this  county  largely  to  the  con- 
struction through  it  of  the  branches  of  the  Burlington,  for 
all  of  which  Galesburg  became  a  division  point.  In  1882,  there 
reached  here  from  Havana,  the  Fulton  County  Narrow  Gauge, 
afterward  acquired  by  the  Burlington.  In  1887-8,  the  Atchi- 
son, Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  completed  and  began  operating  its  line 
from  Kansas  City  to  Chicago.  The  county  is  thus  traversed  by 
two  great  trunk  railroad  lines.  In  addition  the  Iowa  Central 
built  in  1879-80,  extends  through  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
county  and  the  C.  R.  I.  &  P.  through  the  northeastern  part 

Knox  County  in  War 

Knox  county  has  had  a  glorious  part  in  the  wars  in  which 
this  country  has  engaged  It  is  believed  that  in  its  cemeteries 
repose  the  bodies  of  soldiers  of  every  war  from  the  Revolution- 
ary down.  For  years  this  city  was  the  headquarters  of  the 
meetings  of  the  Illinois  Mexican  war  veterans. 

In  the  Civil  War,  according  to  a  careful  compilation  made 
by  the  late  Albert  J.  Perry,  Knox  County  furnished4,200  men, 
distributed  among  190  companies  and  82  regiments.  Of  this 
number  123  were  killed,  and  168  wounded,  344  died  and  96 
were  incarcerated  in  rebel  prisons.  In  bounties  and  aid  to  the 
farnilies  of  soldiers,  the  county  contributed  $400,000. 

To  the  war  with  Spain,  the  county  sent  two  companies  of 
the  Illinois  National  Guard,  Company  C.  of  Galesburg,  com- 
manded by  Captain  T.  L.  McGirr  and  CompanyD,  of  Abing- 
don, in  charge  of  Captain  Frank  W.  Latimer.  These  compan- 
ies sei'ved  in  the  Porto  Rico  campaign  Subsequently  Captain 
McGirr  and  a  number  of  men  from  this  county  took  part 
in  the  Phillipine  Campaign. 

The  War  With  Germany 

The' war  with  Germany  is  a  recent  memory^  and  Knox 
county's  part  will  in  every  detail  be  found  treated  in  a  volume 
edited  by  S.  A.  Wagoner,  and  having  the  assistance  of  a  com- 
mittee of  citizens.  Briefly,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained  the 
county  furnished  2,200  of  its  young  men  for  this  war,  about 
one-half  of  whom  volunteered,  and  the  rest  saw  sei'\nce  under 
the  selective  conscription  act.  Many  of  these  engaged  in  active 
warfare.  Galesburg's  Company  C  was  one  of  the  first  of  the 
Illinois  National  Guard  organizations  to  respond.  Some  of  the 
soldier  boys  paid  the  supreme  sacrifice.  A  good  many  sus- 
tained wounds,  and  many  were  in  the  thick  of  the  fighting. 
The  county  feels  great  pride  in  their  patriotic  achievements. 


17 

The  county  by  its  response  to  the  call  of  the  government 
for  funds  also  gave  its  soldiers  the  most  substantial  back- 
ing. This  is  indicated  by  the  following  tables  showing  the 
total  contributions  to  each  of  the  four  Liberty  Loans  and  the 
Victory  Loan : 

First $    923,180  $    659,600  Not  Known 

Second   1,288,030  1,698,250       7,000 

Third   1,256,640  2,229,600  10,557 

Fourth 2,506,900  2,659,900  14,326 

Victory   1,958,450  2,367,050       6,980 


Totals  ___$7,933,200     $9,614,400 

One  must  add  to  the  foregoing  the  large  sums  contributed 
to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Red  Cross,  the  Salvation  Army  and  the 
other  lines  of  work  to  get  the  full  measure  of  the  county's  will- 
ingness. 

It's  Political  History 

Knox  county  has  had  an  honorable  history  in  the  politics 
of  the  districts  with  which  it  has  been  affiliated  and  in  the 
State  ana  Nation  many  of  its  residents  have  held  positions  of 
prominence.  It's  citizens  have  served  abroad  in  diplomatic 
capacities,  in  Congress,  in  influential  State  positions  and  in  the 
State  Legislature.  The  service  rendered  has  been  of  a  high 
type  and  has  reflected  honor  on  the  county. 

At  the  present  time  Knox  county  is  in  the  Forty-third  Sen- 
atorial district,  comprised  of  Fulton  and  Knox  counties,  and  in 
the  Fifteenth  Congressional  district,  composed  of  Adams, 
Schuyler,  Fulton,  Knox  and  Henry  counties- 
It  is  in  the  Fifth  Supreme  Court  district,  the  Second  Ap- 
pellate Court  district  and  the  Ninth  Judicial  circuit. 

In  Congress 

Following  is  a  list  of  Knox  county  men  who  have  served  in 
Congress : 

John  H.  Lewis,  Knoxville,  1881-1883. 

P  S.  Post,  1887-1889;  1889-1891;  1891-1893;  1893-1895; 
re-elected  but  died  January  6,  1895,  when  entering  on  fifth 
term, 

George  W.  Prince,  1895-1897  ;  1897-1899  ;  1899-1901 ;  1901- 
1903;  1903-1905;  1905-1907;  1907-1909;  1909-1911;  1911-1913. 
Nine  terms. 

Stephen  A.  Hoxworth,  1913-1915. 

Edward  J.  King,  1915-1917;  1917-1919;  1919-1921. 


18* 
In  Constitutional  Convention 

Joshua  Hai-per  represented  Knox  county  in  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1847. 

W.  S.  Gale  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1862. 

Alfred  M.  Craig  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  1870- 

George  Candee  Gale  is  a  member  of  the  present  Constitu- 
tional Convention. 

In  the  Legislature 

At  various  times  Knox  county  has  been  hitched  up  in 
Legislative  districts  with  Fulton,  Mercer,  Warren  and  Hender- 
son counties,  but  since  the  last  re-appointment  it  has  been 
united  with  Fulton,  and  the  district  has  been  well  satisfied. 
The  changes  in  the  number  of  the  districts  are  due  to  the  reap- 
portionments from  time  to  time. 

The  following  shows  the  Knox  county  men  who  have 
served  in  the  Legislature : 

Tenth  General  Assembly,  1836-1838— Peter  Butler,  repre- 
sented Warren,  Knox  and  Henry  counties ;  William  McMurtry 
from  Knox  in  House. 

Twelfth  General  Assembly,  1840-1842— Member  of  House, 
John  Denny. 

Thirteenth  General  Assembly,  1842-1844 — Senator,  Wil- 
liam McMurtry  ;  Member  of  House,  Julius  Manning. 

Fourteenth  General  Assembly,  1844-1846 — Senator,  Wil- 
liam McMurtry;  Members  of  House,  H  Hardie,  Julius  Man- 
ning. 

Fifteenth  General  Assembly,  1846-1848— Senator,  John 
Denny;  Members  of  House,  Ephriam  Gilmore,  Charles  Hans- 
ford. 

Sixteenth  General  Assembly,  1848-1850 — President  of  Sen- 
ate, William  McMurtry;  19th  district  Senator,  John  Denny; 
41st  district.  Member  of  House,  Henry  J.  Runkel. 

Seventeenth  General  Assembly,  1850-1852 — President  of 
Senate,  Wm.  McMurtry;  19th  District  Senator,  John  Denny; 
41st  District,  Member  of  House,  Henry  Arms. 

Eighteenth  General  Assembly,  1852-1854— 41st  District, 
Member  of  House,  Thomas  McKee. 

Nineteenth  General  Assembly,  1854-1856 — 58th  District, 
Member  of  House,  Samuel  W.  Brown,  Knox. 

Twentieth  General  Assembly,  1856-1858— 58th  District, 
member  of  House,  David  H.  Frisbie. 

Twenty-first  General  Assembly,  1858-1860— 58th  District, 
Member  of  House,  Rufus  W.  Miles. 


19 

Twenty-second  General  Assembly,  1860-1862— 58th  Dis- 
trict, Member  of  House,  A-  A.  Smith. 

Twenty-third  General  Assembly,  1862-1864— 15th  Dis- 
trict, Member  of  Senate,  Albert  C.  Mason ;  34th  District,  Mem- 
ber of  House,  Joseph  M.  Holyoke. 

Twenty-fourth  General  Assembly,  1864-1866— 15th  Dis- 
trict, Member  of  Senate,  Albert  C.  Mason ;  34th  District,  Mem- 
ber of  House,  Joseph  M  Holyoke. 

Twenty-fifth  General  Assembly,   1866-1868— 34th  District, 
Member  of  House,  John  Gray. 

Twenty-sixth  General  Assembly,  1868-1870— 34th  Dis- 
trict, Member  of  House,  W.  Selden  Gale. 

Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly,  1870-1872— 15th  Dis- 
trict, Member  of  Senate,  Henry  J.  Vaughn ;  68th  District, 
Members  of  House,  0.  F.  Price,  Joseph  F.  Latimer,  Patrick  H. 
Sanford. 

Twenty-eighth  General  Assembly,  1872-1874— 22nd  Dis- 
trict, Senator,  Patrick  H.  Sanford ;  Member  of  House,  Jacob  S. 
Chambers- 

Twenty-ninth  General  Assembly,  1874-1876 — Senator, 
Patrick  H.  Sanford ;  Members  of  House,  John  H.  Lewis,  Curtis 
N.  Harvey. 

Thirtieth  General  Assembly,  1876-1878— Members  of 
House,  Alfred  S.  Curtis,  Joseph  F.  Latimer,  Abraham  M. 
Brown. 

Thirty-first  General  Assembly,  1878-1880— 23rd  District, 
Members  of  House,  Rufus  W.  Miles,  Joseph  F.  Latimer,  John 
Sloan. 

Thirty-second  General  Assembly,  1880-1882— 22nd  Dis- 
trict, Senator,  August  W.  Berggren ;  Member  of  House,  Hanni- 
bal P.  Wood 

Thirty-third  General  Assembly,  1882-1884— 22nd  District, 
Senator,  August  W.  Berggren;  Members  of  House,  A.  S.  Cur- 
tis, F.  A.  Willoughby. 

Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly,  1884-1886— 22nd  Dis- 
trict, Senator,  August  W  Berggren ;  Member  of  House,  Orrin 
P.  Cooley. 

Thirty-fifth  General  Assembly,  1886-1888— 22nd  District, 
Senator,  August  W.  Berggren;  Member  of  House,  Orrin  P. 
Cooley. 

Thirtysixth  General  Assembly,  1888-1890— 22nd  District, 
Members  of  House,  Orrin  P.  Cooley,  George  W.  Prince,  James 
W.  Hunter. 

Thirty-seventh  General  Assembly,  1890-1892 — 22nd  Dis- 
trict, Members  of  House,  James  W.  Hunter,  George  W.  Prince. 


20 

Thirty-eighth  General  Assembly,  1892-1894— 22nd  Dis- 
trict, Members  of  House,  Jay  L.  Hastings,  Frank  Murdock. 

Thirty-ninth  General  Assembly,  1894-1896— 35th  District, 
Member  of  House,Frank  Murdock. 

Fortieth  General  Assembly,  1896-1898— 35th  District, 
Member  of  House,  Frank  Murdock. 

Forty-first  General  Assembly,  1898-1900— 35th  District, 
Senator,  Leon  A.  Townsend;  Member  of  House,  Charles  C. 
Craig. 

Forty-second  General  Assembly,  1900-1902— 35th  District, 
Senator,  Leon  A.  Townsend;  Member  of  House,  Charles  C 
Craig. 

Forty-third  General  Assembly,  1902-1904— 43rd  District, 
Senator,  Leon  A.  Townsend;  Member  of  House,  Wilfred  Arn- 
old. 

Forty-fourth  General  Assembly,  1904-1906— 43rd  District, 
Senator,  Leon  A.  Townsend;  Members  of  House,  Wilfred  Arn- 
old, Michael  J.  Daugherty. 

Forty-fifth  General  Assembly,  1906-1908— 43rd  District, 
Senator,  Charles  F.  Hurburgh ;  Members  of  House,  Edward  J. 
King,  Michael  J.  Daugherty. 

Forty-sixth  General  Assembly,  1908-1910— 43rd  District 
Senator,  Charles  F.  Hurburgh ;  Member  of  House,  Edward  J. 
King. 

Forty-seventh  General  Assembly,  1910-1912 — 43rd  District, 
Senator,  Charles  F.  Hurburgh ;  Member  of  House,  Edward  J. 
King. 

Forty-eighth  General  Assembly,  1912-1914 — 43rd  Dis- 
trict, Senator,  Charles  F.  Hurburgh ;  Members  of  House,  Ed- 
ward J  King,  W.  B.  Elliott. 

Forty-ninth  General  Assembly,  1914-1916 — 43rd  District, 
Members  of  House,  Owen  B.  West,  James  E.  Davis. 

Fiftieth  General  Assembly,  1916-1918— 43rd  District, 
Members  of  House,  Owen  B.  West,  James  E.  Davis. 

Fifty-first  General  Assembly,  1918-1920— 43rd  District, 
Members  of  House,  A.  O.  Lindstrum,  O.  B.  West. 

On  State  Commissions 

The  following  are  serving  at  the  present  time  by  appoint 
ment  (^  G^ftertA  Lowden  as  members  of  State  commissions : 

On  Tax  Commission — Charles  C-  Craig. 

On  Industrial  Commission — Omer  N.  Custer. 

As  Ambassador 
Col.  Clark   E.  Carr,  deceased,   served  as  ambassador  to 
Denmark  during  the  term  of  President  Harrison. 


21 

On  Supreme  Bench 

Knox  county  has  given  three  judges  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  IlHnois  as  follows : 

Charles  B.  Lawrence,  June,  1864  to  June,  1873- 
Alfred  M.  Craig,  June,  1873  to  June,  1900. 
Charles  C.  Craig,  October,  1913  to  June,  1918. 

On  Circuit  Bench 

The  record  in  Circuit  Court  Judges  follows,  going  back  to 
1873: 

Eighth  Circuit,  Created  in  1873 — Arthur  A.  Smith  elected 
in  1873. 

Tenth  Circuit,  Created  in  1877 — Arthur  A.  Smith,  re- 
elected June  16,  1879;  re-elected  June  1,  1885;  re-elected  June 
1,  1891 ;  resigned  Nov.  15,  1894. 

Ninth  Circuit,  Created  in  1897 — George  W.  Thompson, 
elected  June  18,  1897;  re-elected  in  1903,  1909,  1915;  still  on 
bench. 

Judge  Thompson  also  served  for  years  as  a  member  of  the 
Appellate  benches  of  the  Second  and  Third  Districts. 

Mention  of  Others 

Among  the  early  Lieutenant-Governors  of  Illinois  wan 
William  McMurtry,  and  he  in  this  capacity  served  the  Senate 
as  its  president  during  the  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  General 
Assemblies- 

In  addition  to  serving  his  district  as  State  Senator,  A.  W. 
Berggren  was  for  a  number  of  years  warden  of  the  State  peni- 
tentiary at  Joliet. 

Leon  A.  Townsend,  for  two  terms  State  Senator,  was  ap- 
pointed United  States  Marshal. 

Moses  O  Williamson,  now  president  of  the  Peoples'  Trust 
and  Savings  Bank,  Galesburg,  was  elected  State  Treasurer  and 
served  one  term. 

Many  other  Knox  county  men  have  served  on  various 
State  boards. 

Banking  in  Knox  County 

The  first  regular  bank  in  Knox  county  was  a  private  one 
founded  by  Cornelius  Runkle  in  Knoxville,  with  himself  as 
president  and  John  Babbington  as  cashier.  In  1863,  the  bank 
was  nationalized.  Since  that  day  there  has  been  a  great  de- 
velopment, until  at  the  present  time  there  are  twenty-three 
banks  in  the  county,  including  all  three  types.  National,  State 
and  private,  representing  a  capitalization  of  several  millions 


22 

and  a  large  total  of  deposits.  These  institutions  all  appear 
to  be  substantial  and  well  established.  In  addition  there  are 
in  Galesburg  four  Homestead  and  Loan  Associations,  repre- 
senting a  large  investment. 

Agricultural  Developments 

The  agricultural  development  of  the  county  was  accel- 
erated by  the  inventive  genius  of  its  citizens.  H.  H.  May 
turned  out  the  first  steel  mould  board  plow,  George  W  Brown 
invented  the  corn  planter.  The  first  threshing  machine  put 
in  an  appearnce  in  1842  and  the  first  reaper  in  1847.  In  close 
succession  came  other  implements  down  to  the  present  time 
that  made  production  and  farming  on  a  large  scale  possible. 

Farm  Statistics 

The  following  statistics  relate  to  the  farms  of  the  county : 

Number  of  farms  in  county  in  1900 3,086 

Number  of  farms  in  county  in  1910 2,863 

Farm  area 455,040  acres 

Under  cultivation 424,381  acres 

Land  in  farms  in  1910 432,349  acres 

Value  in  1910 $60,776,744 

Value  in  1900 $31,164,616 

Operated  by  owners  in  1910 1,518 

Operated  by  owners  in  1900 1,756 

Tenants,   1910  1,294 

Tenants,  1900  1,223 

Since  1910  the  value  of  land  in  the  county  has  materially 
increased.  Agriculture  is  by  all  odds  the  largest  single  interest 
in  Knox  county. 

During  the  last  few  years  there  has  been  a  marked  change 
in  farm  methods,  equipment  and  facilities  The  tractor  is  now 
finding  its  place  among  the  implements.  The  telephone  is 
found  in  most  farm  homes  and  in  many  there  are  now  electric 
appliances.  Modern  treatment  of  soils  to  increase  and  pre- 
serve fertility  is  being  employed.  In  years  past,  farmers  had 
their  granges  and  other  organizations  and  their  institutes. 
The  most  important  agency  for  promoting  crop  increases  and 
farm  interests  is  the  County  Farm  Bureau,  having  the  support 
of  the  National  and  State  governments  as  well  as  of  the  mem- 
bership. The  Knox  County  Farm  Bureau,  which  was  organ- 
ized February  28,  1918,  now  has  a  membership  of  1936,  and  is 
one  of  the  strongest  in  the  State..  The  fee  of  ten  dollars  a  year 
for  each  member  provides  ample  funds  for  a  large  work.  A 
central  office  is  maintained  in  Galesburg.  The  officers  of  this 
Bureau  follow : 


23 

President — Henry  C.  Gehring,  Altona- 
Vice  President— W.  B.  Elliott,  Williamsfield. 
Secretary — Ray  M.  Arnold,  Galesburg. 
Treasurer — George  A.  Charles,  Knoxville- 

Advisory  Council — Oliver  Nelson,  Altona;  C.  B.  Griff itli, 
Galesburg;  Elias  Hughs,  Maquon;  E.  U.  Shumacher,  Hermon; 
Frank  Gamel,  Rio;  M.  F.  Shea,  Henderson;  Geo.  Bond,  Abing- 
don; C.  M.  C  Brown,  Oneida;  Winn  Wilmot,  Wataga;  Marion 
Shives,  Yates  City;  H.  S.  Breece,  Knoxville;  Ed.  Moon,  Wil- 
liamsfield; Willim  Beals,  Altona;  Ben  Bjorling,  Victoria;  Ed 
Taylor,  Rapatee ;  John  Stevens,  Gilson. 

Executive  Committee — H.  C.  Gehring,  Altona;  W  B.  El- 
liott, Williamfsield,  Ray  M.  Arnold,  Galesburg;  Geo.  A. 
Charles,  Knoxville;  C,  E.  Hartsook,  Maquon;  J.  Harry  Shu- 
maker,  Abingdon;  Willard  Miller,  Rio;  William  Beals,  Altona; 
Chas  M.  Hunter,  Abingdon. 

Farm  Advisor — E.  M.  D.  Bracker. 

Associate  Farm  Adviser — Floyd  R.  Marchant. 

Associate  Farm  Adviser — Ralph  E   Arnett. 

This  bureau  is  linked  up  with  the  State  and  National 
bureaus  and  is  a  thoroughly  efficient  organization,  whose 
work  through  bulletins,  community  meetings  and  institutes, 
reaches  every  part  of  the  county. 

The  County  Officers 

The  list  of  county  officers  serving  at  present  follows : 

County  Judge Walter  C.  Frank Dec.  1922 

County   Clerk   Frank  L.  Adams Dec.  1922 

Clerk  of  Circuit  Court Chas-  H.  Westerberg__Dec.  1920 

State's  Attorney Addison  J.  Boutelle Dec.  1920 

Sheriff   James  T.  Wheeler Dec.  1922 

County  Treasurer Herbert  N.  Bloomquist  Dec.  1922 

County  Supt.  of  Schools Walter  F.  Boyes Aug  1923 

Coroner   Geo.   S.   Bower Dec.  1920 

County  Surveyor Arthur  L.  Richey Dec.  1920 

County  Supt.  of  Highways- -Arthur  L.  Richey-_Mar.  17,  1926 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written,  those  whose  terms  ex- 
pired in  1920,  were  re-elected  for  a  four  years  term. 

The  Present  Board 

Of  the  present  Board  of  Supervisors,  1920,  C.  H.  Upp  is 
chairman.    The  personnel  follows : 


24 

Towns  Supervisors 

Indian  Point Willard  Tinkham 

Cedar A  C.  Harvey 

Galesburg Lew   E.   Wallace 

Galesburg  City Fred  T.  DuVon 

Galesburg  City Geo.  H.  Burgland 

Galesburg  City J.  G  W.  Dopp 

Galesburg  City E.  R.  Everett 

Galesburg  City A.  V.  Rowe 

Galesburg  City N.  L,  Ewing 

Galesburg  City C.  E.  Bowles 

Galesburg  City Fred  I.  Taylor 

Galesburg  City James  Gaines 

Henderson Andrew  Hawkinson 

Rio Milton  Deatherage 

Chestnut E.  U.  Shumaker 

Orange 0.  L    McElwain 

Knox Clarence   R.   Lacy 

Knox Arthur  H.  Pearson 

Sparta J.  E   WilHamson 

Ontario J.  J.  Clearwater 

Maquon H.  L  Epley 

Haw  Creek C.  H.  Upp 

Persifer Arthur  J.  Berry 

Copley Robert  Gibbs 

Walnut  Grove John  A.  Johnson 

Salem W.  E.  West 

Elba 0.  W   Farwell 

Truro Chester  H.  Pulver 

Victoria Frank   Peterson 

Lynn A.  L.  Appeil 

Township   Officers 

Following  is  a  list  of  the  present  township  officers,  1920, 
furnished  by  the  county  clerk : 

TOWN  CLERKS: 
Elected  April  6th,  1920.    Term  Expires  April,  1922 

Town  Name 

Indian  Point W.  H.  Clark 

Cedar R.  Y.  Campbell 

Galesburg   John   Vedell 

Henderson Reuben  R.  Fields 

Rio W.  A.  Brown 

Chestnut Seaton    Moon 

Orange Earl   Bowman 

Knox Harrv   Woolsev 


25 

Sparta O.   L.   Erickson 

*        Ontario C.  V.  Conyers 

Maquon P   C.  Lafferty 

Haw  Creek Earl  Snell 

Persif er Dan   McQueen 

Copley R.  W.  Brown 

Walnut  Grove S.  Harry  Johnson 

Salem Edson    Bowman 

Elba R.  O.  Baird 

Truro Frank  E.  Welsh 

Victoria W   H.  Ray 

Lynn Leslie    Haxton 

City  of  Galesburg W.  L.  Boutelle 

(Ex-Officio) 

ASSESSORS: 
Elected  April  6,  1920,  for  Term  Jan.  1,  1921  to  Dec.  31,  1922 

Town  •         Assessor 

Indian  Point G.  L.  Hagan 

Cedar W.  H.   Robinson 

Galesburg J.  H.  Marsden 

City  of  Galesburg Sander  Anderson 

Henderson C.  J.  Shepard 

Rio M  A.  Almgreen 

Chestnut Frank  Sampson 

Orange Robert  Sumner 

Knox W.  H.  Cronoble 

Sparta William  Masters 

Ontario C.  A.  Peterson 

Maquon Frank  Booth 

Haw  Creek C.  L.  Dossett 

Persifer E  W.  Farquer 

Copley Thomas  Hobbs 

Walnut  Grove N.  H.  Nelson 

Salem B.  B.  Lawrence 

Elba B.  L.  Baird 

Truro S.  M.  Parker 

Victoria W.  S.  Moak 

Lynn   Steve  Milliken 

COMMISSIONERS  OF  HIGHWAYS: 
Elected  April  6,  1920— Terms  Expire  April,  1922 

Town  Cimmissioners 

Indian  Point Isaac  T.  Perry 

Cedar Jno.  McCracken 

Galesburg George  Swedlund 


26 

Henderson A   E.  Walters 

Rio Arthur  Robertson 

Chestnut Mason  Headley 

Orange Earnest  Thurman 

Knox W.  H.  Steck 

Sparta O.  S.  Olson 

Ontario Gust  Peterson 

Maquon N.  H.  McGirr 

Haw  Creek W  J.  Kinser 

Persifer R.  C.  Folger 

Copley F.  E.  Johnson 

Walnut  Grove Gust  Bjorling 

Salem R.  C.  Jones 

Elba T.  E.  Straub 

Truro W.  H.  Machin 

Victoria , J.  A.  Sandquist 

Lynn George  Jones 

JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE : 
Term  Expires  First  Monday  in  May,  1921 

Town                                                     Name 
Indian  Point    

W  H.  Clark,  S.  Gray 

Cedar G.  A.  Hickman,  B.  0.  Baird 

Galesburg 

City  of  Galesburg Robert  J.  Walberg 

S.  M  Meadows,  A.  B.  Pierson,  John  C.  Kost 

Henderson W.  B.  Nelson 

Rio B.  E.  Frankenburger,  F.  M.  Epperson 

Chestnut A.  F.  Bjorklund 

Orange W.  H.  Wiley,  H.  H  Holsinger 

Knox A.  E.  Lucas,  William  Norris 

Sparta S.  R.  Parkinson 

Ontario E.  C.  Hannam 

Maquon J.  H  Farquer,  M.  H.  Taylor 

Haw  Creek H.  E.  Snell,  John  Housh 

Persifer E.  J.  Steffen,  W.  H.  Montgomery 

Copley P.  A   McDowell 

Walnut  Grove Oscar  McGrew 

Salem W.  H.  Nash 

Elba 

Truro John  Mackie,  H.  R.  Kinson 

Victoria George  W.  Coleman 

Lynn L.  E.  Gibbs,  A.  L.  Appell 


27 

CONSTABLES : 

Terms  Expire  First  Monday  in  May,  1921 

Town  Name 

Indian  Point S.  D.  Lomax 

Cedar C.  M.  Hughbanks,  A.  W.  Bolon 

Galesburg E.  A.  Woods 

City  of  Galesburg W.  G.  Kinney,  George 

Rodecker,  Joshua  Davis,  John  W-  Starnes 

Henderson Victor  Peterson,  Wm.  Erickson 

Rio Claus  Malmberg,  Robert  Willett 

Orange W.  H.  Woolsey 

Knox Geo.  W.  Witherell,  Andrew  Spencer 

Sparta Wm.  Sandeen,  G.  L.  Newberg 

Village  of  Wataga C    G.  Bangston 

Ontario Mack  Foster,  S.  J.  Cox 

Maquon T.  U.  Walters,  L.  B  Hughbanks 

Haw  Creek John  Housh 

Persifer Edward  Smith 

Copley John  Harpman 

Walnut  Grove O.  W.  Peterson 

Salem P  A.  Taylor,  Elmer  Corbet 

Truro B.  F.  Speer,  E.  J.  Gray 

Victoria D.  W.   Suydam 

Lynn F.  W.  Quick,  Steve  Milliken 

POLICE  MAGISTRATES: 

City  or  Village  Name 

Abingdon F.  W.  McClure 

City  of  Galesburg 

Henderson H.  C.  Davison 

East  Galesburg 

Oneida Martin  Gehring 

Maquon Adam  Kinser 

Knoxville Wm.  H  Dredge 

Williamsfield J.  M.  Griffin 

Yates  City T.  J.  Kightlinger 


EARLY  SETTLEMENTS 
By  Fannie  Wright  Bliss 

In  1827  four  sturdy  young  men  from  Sangamon  county 
made  a  tour  through  this  part  of  Illinois  in  search  of  honey, 
as  large  trees  often  containing  a  barrel  of  it  frequently  were 
found  by  bee  hunters.  They  pushed  ahead  until  two  well  filled 
trees  were  found  in  the  timber  afterwards  known  as  Hender- 
son Grove  of  Knox  County.     They  camped  for  one  week  on 


28 

what  is  now  the  line  between  Knox  and  Warren  counties,  but 
met  no  other  person  These  were  the  first  white  men  to  cross 
the  prairies  of  our  county  of  whom  we  have  knowledge.  Two 
of  them,  Mr.  Gaddial  Scott  and  Mr.  Andrew  Olson,  subse- 
quently returned  here  to  live. 

In  the  following  year,  1828,  a  number  of  families  came  to 
this  county  to  found  homes,  all  settling  in  what  became  Hen- 
derson township.  Daniel  Robertson  was  the  first  permanent 
settler  of  the  county.  In  this  group  were  many  family  names 
familiar  to  us  because  of  their  descendants,  therefore  they  are 
mentioned:  Robertson,  Mathews,  Gumm,  Pennington,  Osborn, 
Nance,  Coy,  Fraker,  Greenwell,  Sheldon,  Voiles,  Vaughn,  Rey- 
nolds, McKee. 

During  the  next  year,  1829,  came  the  McMurtry  brothers, 
and  Reed,  Lewis,  Davis  and  Maxwell.  In  that  same  year  a 
widow,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Owen  and  children  settled  in  what  be- 
came Haw  Creek  township,  the  first  settlers  to  locate  outside 
of  Henderson.  In  1830  the  population  increased  rapidly. 
Fraker,  Owen  and  Fitch  settled  in  Lynn  township  in  the  edge 
of  a  beautiful  grove,  still  known  as  Fraker's  Grove,  the  first 
white  settlers  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  county.  Mr  Fraker 
found  an  Indian  village  on  the  land  he  had  bought  from  the 
government.  The  Indians  disputed  his  right  to  the  land  as 
they  said  theirs  came  direct  from  the  Great  Spirit.  They  fin- 
ally removed  to  Indian  Creek,  seven  miles  east  and  built  an- 
other village,  but  made  friendly  visits  to  the  Frakers  and 
acquired  the  habit  of  coming  to  the  grove  in  the  spring  to  make 
sugar  and  raise  "squaw  corn." 

There  was  only  one  traveled  road  in  the  county,  the  Galena 
trail  or  State  road  from  Galena  to  Peoria,  through  Victoria 
and  Walnut  Grove  townships. 

The  law  required  three  hundred  and  fifty  legal  voters  to 
live  in  a  county  before  it  could  be  organized  as  such,  yet  there 
was  scarcely  that  number  of  individuals  within  the  boundaries 
of  Knox  county.  When  Illinois  became  a  state  in  1818,  the 
land  now  comprising  Knox  county  was  a  part  of  Madison 
county.  In  1821  it  was  placed  in  the  boundaries  of  Pike  county, 
the  oldest  county  in  the  Mihtary  Tract.  In  1826  its  present 
boundaries  were  determined  and  it  was  attached  to  Fulton 
county  for  judicial  and  recording  purposes  In  July,  1830, 
Knox  county  was  fonnally  organized  as  at  present  except  that 
two  townships  were  included  which,  when  Stark  County  was 
organized  in  1837,  were  severed  from  Knox  and  became  a  part 
of  that  county.  The  town  of  La  Fayette  is  located  in  that  sec- 
tion. 

The  first  business  meeting  of  the  county  and  the  elec- 


29 

tion  of  county  commisioners  were  held  at  the  resdence  of  John 
B.  Gumm,  Henderson  township,  about  four  miles  northwest  of 
Galesburg's  present  site  near  the  south  edge  of  Henderson 
Grove.  This  house  was  a  one-story  double  log  cabin,  each  divi- 
sion containing  but  one  room.  This  building  served  as  dwell- 
ing, hotel,  post  office,  also  temporary  seat  of  justice  until 
the  log  court  house  was  later  built  at  Knoxville.  I  am  told  that 
this  same  historic  building  or  at  least  one  part  of  it,  is  still  used 
on  a  farm  in  this  county  in  sufficiently  good  condition  to  serve 
as  a  corn  crib  in  spite  of  its  being  nearly  one  hundred  years 
old.  How  appropriate  it  would  be  if  the  county  could  purchase 
and  restore  it  to  its  former  condition  and  place  it  in  Lincoln 
Park  near  its  first  location,  to  be  furnished  with  mementoes  of 
those  early  days,  so  that  the  descendants  of  the  pioneers  might 
have  some  idea  of  the  way  their  ancestors  lived ! 

During  this  same  July,  1830,  the  county  of  Knox  was 
divided  into  two  districts  for  election  of  justices  of  peace  and 
constables  in  each.  The  first,  or  Henderson  district,  included 
fourteen  townships  north  of  a  line  separating  Galesburg  town- 
ship (as  known  at  present)  from  Cedar  township.  The  second 
or  Spoon  River  township,  included  all  south  of  the  same  line 
and  contained  eight  townships. 

The  citizens  of  the  county  soon  aspired  to  the  erection  of 
a  court  house  and  the  building  of  a  town.  They  therefore,  in 
1831,  procured  from  the  State  Legislature  an  act  defining  the 
loction  of  the  county  seat  and  authozing  commissioners  to 
lay  off  the  town  which  was  on  the  S.  W.  Quarter  of  Section  28, 
Knox  Township.  This  county  seat  was  christened  "Henderson" 
by  the  Legislature  but  re-named  Knoxville  by  that  same  body 
two  years  later  in  honor  of  General  Knox.  The  county  bought 
the  land  on  which  the  business  and  much  of  the  residence  por- 
tion of  Knoxville  now  stand  for  $200,  at  one  dollar  and  a  quar- 
ter an  acre,  being  government  or  congress  land,  as  it  was  called. 
In  the  spring  of  1831  lots  were  staked  out  and  publicly  auc- 
tioned off,  seventy-nine  lots  being  sold,  varying  in  price  from 
two  dollars  to  sixty,  aggregating  $1,256. 

That  portion  of  Illinois  known  as  the  Military  Tract  in- 
cludes all  land  between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers  south 
of  the  north  line  of  Bureau  and  Henry  counties.  It  was  given 
to  the  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812  in  quarter  sections.  When  it 
was  laid  off  into  counties  most  of  them  were  named  after  mili- 
tary heroes  of  the  nation.  '  Our  county  was  named  for  the 
statesman-general,  Henry  Knox,  Secretary  of  War  under 
Washington  and  a  warm  personal  friend  of  his 

If  a  line  be  drawn  from  Galesburg  through  Vincennes, 
Indiana,  and  extended  to  Kentucky,  it  will  penetrate  the  heart 
of  the  "Blue  Grass  Country."    Along  that  line  as  a  main  chan- 


30 

nel  poured  the  tide  of  emigration  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee 
and  Virginia. 

Up  to  1832,  the  year  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  Knox  county 
settlers  came  mainly  from  these  states  or  from  temporary 
homes  in  southern  Indiana  and  Illinois.  Emigration  from  the 
Eastern  states  started  in  full  force  in  1836,  the  year  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Galesburg  Colony  at  Log  City.  From  that  time 
southern  emigration  began  to  decline  and  New  England,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  supplied  the  majority  of  the  emi- 
grants. The  first  considerable  European  accession  was  a 
Scotch  settlement  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  county,  mostly 
in  Copley  township.  Later  influenced  by  Rev.  Jones  Hedstrom, 
a  Methodist  clergyman,  who  came  from  Sweden  and  then  lived 
in  Victoria,  a  large  number  left  the  Bishop  Hill  colony  of  Swed- 
ish settlers  in  Henry  county  and  settled  on  farms  near  Vic- 
toria. Steady  immigration  from  Sweden  followed,  the  descend- 
ants of  whom  form  a  large  and  valued  part  of  our  population. 

The  Irish  first  appeared  in  numbers  much  later,  in  1854, 
with  the  advent  of  the  railroad,  and  now  occupy  large  holdings 
in  the  county. 

After  the  founding  of  Galesburg  with  its  strong  anti- 
slavery  sentiment,  the  town  became  known  as  a  prominent 
station  of  the  "Underground  Railroad,"  and  so  many  colored 
people  received  help  and  kindness  on  their  way  farther  north  to 
freedom  that  when  it  was  no  longer  necessary  for  them  to 
cross  the  border  into  Canada  to  insure  safety,  it  was  not 
strange  they  came  in  increasing  numbers,  largely  from  Mis- 
souri, to  make  their  homes  in  a  neighborhood  in  which  public 
sentiment  had  always  been  favorable  to  them.  However,  they 
have  not  been  widely  scattered  through  the  county,  evidently 
preferring  to  live  near  their  churches  in  Galesburg. 

But  before  many  more  years  pass,  Knox  county  can  cele- 
brate the  centennial  anniversary  of  her  settlement  How  great 
have  been  the  changes  in  conditions  during  the  three  genera- 
tions embraced  in  one  hundred  years!  It  may  be  interesting 
to  consider  some  of  the  prominent  characteristics  of  pioneer 
life  as  the  old  settlers  of  this  county  knew  it. 

They  universally  settled  in  the  timber  or  along  its  edge, 
the  trees  furnishing  not  only  material  for  their  cabins,  but 
that  protection  from  the  driving  storms  which  was  greatly 
needed,  as  many  of  the  homes  were  hastily  built  and  not  fin- 
ished thoroughly  at  first.  The  timber  also  sheltered  stock 
until  sheds  and  outbuildings  could  be  put  up.  Here,  too,  was 
nature's  lumber  yard,  where  the  settler  could  find  material  for 
home-made  furniture  to  add  to  the  small  stock  he  had  brought 
with  him.    The  fuel  supply  also  was  close  at  hand.     And  two 


31 

kinds  of  sweetening  were  secured  from  the  timber,  the  sap 
which  when  boiled  down  furnished  maple  syrup  and  sugar,  and 
the  wild  honey  found  in  the  bee  trees  containing  many  gallons, 
sometimes  a  barrel  or  more.  The  same  natural  storehouse 
supplied  casks  for  it,  made  from  hollow  basswood  logs,  some 
times  three  feet  long,  one  end  of  which  was  plugged  up,  and  the 
casks  were  used  for  years.  A  similar  method  was  used  in  mak- 
ing the  hand  corn-mills  used  by  many  of  the  original  settlers ; 
these  were  made  by  boring  a  hole  in  the  top  of  a  large  stump, 
then  burning  it  out  in  the  shape  of  a  mortar  Attaching  a 
pounder  to  a  long,  bent  spring-pole,  they  pounded  their  grain 
and  corn,  making  unbolted  meal  or  flour.  This  when  mixed  to 
a  dough  was  placed  on  a  smooth  board  or  piece  of  iron,  placed 
slanting  towards  the  fire-place.  When  lard  was  abundant  the 
well-shortened  bread  was  called  "Johnny  Cake."  Sometimes 
the  dough  was  baked  in  lumps  called  "Corn  Dodgers."  If 
the  dough  was  raised  with  yeast  and  baked  in  a  "Dutch  oven," 
it  was  called  "Pone."  Hominy,  roasted  com  and  mush  and  milk 
were  eaten  commonly  also. 

The  timber  gave  shelter  to  many  wild  animals  which  made 
good  eating  for  the  settlers.  Wild  fruits  and  nuts  added  to 
the  family  bill  of  fare  and  nuts  and  acorns  formed  no  small 
part  of  the  food  for  the  hogs  they  raised. 

There  being  no  mills  to  grind  the  grain  of  the  first  crops 
those  who  could  grind  by  hand  power  did  so,  while  others 
grated  corn  in  the  ear  before  it  became  quite  hard  on  tin 
graters  made  from  old  buckets  or  pans  closely  perforated  and 
nailed  on  a  board.  Mr.  Fraker,  whose  settling  in  Lynn  town- 
ship has  been  mentioned,  made  a  hand  mill  for  grinding  grain 
W'hich  stood  in  the  living  room  and  had  burrs  about  two  feet 
in  diameter,  made  from  stones,  which  were  called  "hard- 
heads." 

The  women  as  well  as  the  men  had  their  share  of  arduous 
labor  to  perform  Spinning  was  a  common  household  duty. 
The  "little  wheel"  was  used  for  spinning  flax,  the  "big  wheel" 
for  spinning  yarn,  while  quite  a  number  of  homes  had  looms 
set  up  on  which  they  did  weaving  for  themselves  and  for 
others. 

But  not  all  the  labor  and  privations  of  the  early  settlers 
were  a  series  of  unmitigated  toils  and  sufferings.  They  had 
their  times  of  fun  and  enjoyment  and  managed  to  break  the 
monotony  of  their  daily  life  with  "quilting  bees,"  "apple  par- 
ings," when  the  fruit  was  pared,  cored  and  quartered,  strung 
like  bead  chains  and  f  estoonel  on  the  walls  to  dry ;  "corn-husk- 
ings,"  when  both  sexes  gathered,  chose  sides,  husked  fast  and 
furiously  to  see  which  side  finished  the  allotted  work  first, 
variety  being  furnished  by  the  occasional  finding  of  the  cov- 


32 

eted  red  ear  with  its  osculatory  reward. 

Regarding  the  pioneers'  schools  it  may  be  readily  under- 
stood the  accommodations  were  not  good  at  first,  as  the  homes 
were  not,  but  they  felt  the  education  of  their  children  could  not 
wait  for  better  buildings.  A  "mud-and-stick"  chimney  in  one 
end  of  the  building,  with  earthen-hearth  fireplace,  wide  and 
deep  enough  to  take  in  a  four-foot  backlog  and  smaller  wood  to 
match,  served  for  warming  the  school  house  in  winter.  For 
windows,  part  of  a  log  was  cut  out  on  either  side  and  the  hole 
was  filled  with  a  few  small  panes  of  glass  or  maybe  greased 
paper.  Writing  benches  were  made  of  wide  planks  or  else 
puncheons,  resting  on  pins  driven  into  two-inch  auger  holes, 
bored  into  the  logs  beneath  the  windows-  Seats  and  flooring 
were  also  made  from  puncheons.  Everything  was  plr.m  and 
rude,  but  many  of  America's  greatest  men  have  gone  out  f^'oiii 
just  such  school  houses,  who  have  become  an  honor  to  their 
country. 

In  the  summer  of  1833,  in  Section  14  of  Henderson  Town- 
shtp,  the  first  school  in  that  vicinity  was  taught  and  second  in 
the  county.  It  has  some  peculiar  characteristics ;  there  were 
no  regular  hours  for  recitations,  but  the  teacher  began  school 
with  the  arrival  of  the  first  pupil,  closing  about  sun-down. 
The  boys  "made  their  manners"  and  the  girls  made  a  "curtsy" 
on  entering  and  leaving.  This  was  known  as  a  "loud"  school, 
because  all  studied  aloud.  When  studying  arithmetic  they 
were  permitted  to  go  into  the  woods,  where  it  was  more  quiet, 
to  get  their  lessons. 

No  mention  of  the  public  schools  of  Knox  county  should 
omit  the  name  of  Mary  Allen  West  as  being  inseparably  con- 
nected with  them.  Born  in  the  county  in  1837,  truly  a  child  of 
the  Galesburg  colony,  educated  entirely  in  the  Galesburg  dis- 
trict schools  and  in  Knox  Seminary,  she  was  in  a  position  to 
realize  the  deficiencies  in  the  earlier  system  of  public  instruc- 
tion and  later  devoted  her  influence  as  an  instructor  prominent 
among  state  and  national  educators  to  upbuilding  and  im- 
proving the  system  of  county  schools.  In  this  work  her  efforts 
were  second  only  to  those  of  Professor  Geo.  Churchill  and  Dr. 
Newton  Bateman. 

Those  who  are  seeking  homes  will  always  select  those 
communities  in  which  the  school  house  and  the  church  find  a 
special  recognition,  rather  than  those  in  which  they  are  not 
found.  It  has  been  said  that  the  early  establishment  of  relig- 
ious institutions  in  new  settlements  is  a  prominent  feature  in 
the  history  of  this  county  With  the  very  first  settler  came 
good  old  Elder  Gumm,  who  preached  almost  every  Sunday  in 
some  of  the  cabins  at  Henderson.  The  oldest  religious  organ- 
ization in  the  county  was  known  as  the  "Henderson  Church," 


^  .  33 

organized  at  Henderson  Grove  in  1830,  under  the  Old  School 
Predestinarian  Baptists,  the  church  building  being  in  Rio 
township. 

Knoxville  was  made  an  appointment  on  the  Henderson  Mis- 
sion of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in  1831.  Abingdon  M. 
E.  Church  was  organized  in  1833,  with  seven  members.  Ab- 
ingdon Cumbreland  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  at 
Cherry  Grove  in  1835  In  Salem  township  a  M.  E.  Church  was 
organized  in  1836.  The  history  of  the  old  "First  Church  of 
Christ,"  founded  by  the  Galesburg  colony  is  unique,  having 
passed  through  no  period  of  infantile  growth  but  being  strong 
from  the  time  of  its  organization.  More  than  thirty  families 
were  located  in  cabins  on  the  south  side  of  Henderson  Grove  in 
the  fall  of  1836  in  what  they  called  Log  City,  waiting  for  the 
following  spring  when  they  were  to  begin  the  erection  of 
buildings  on  the  prairie  site  bought  and  platted  by  them  as 
Galesburg.  Before  the  arrival  of  their  regular  minister  one 
or  another  of  the  men  of  the  company  read  a  sermon  in  one 
of  the  most  commodious  homes  each  Sabbath  to  a  crowded 
house,  as  the  congregation  included  colonists  not  only,  but 
also  the  earlier  Southern  settlers  along  the  edge  of  the 
grove.  The  following  spring  the  Galesburg  colony  began  to 
build  and  occupy  their  prairie  city  homes  and  in  1837  their 
church  was  declared  organized  as  a  Presbyterian  body,  al- 
though it  became  known  as  a  "Mother  of  Churches"  from  the 
number  of  other  denominations  that  have  become  outgrowths 
and  off-shoots  from  the  parent  body. 

This  brings  this  introductory  sketch  to  a  close,  as  the 
object  of  the  writer  has  been  to  give  a  brief  outline  of  those 
pioneer  settlements  which  preceded  the  advent  of  the  large 
Eastern  colony,  as  after  that  time  the  "course  of  empire"  took 
its  way  westward  with  rapid  strides.  Also  as  others  have  writ- 
ten more  particularly  of  other  townships  of  Knox  county,  the 
object  of  this  article  is  to  make  especial  mention  of  the  early 
settlements  of  Henderson  and   Knox  townships. 

No  more  fitting  expression  of  the  spirit  that  actuated  the 
early  settlers  of  this  county  could  be  given  than  is  found  in  the 
following  beautiful  sentiment. : 

"With  widening  vision  in  the  plain  they  stood, 
And  gazed  with  eager  eyes  the  country  o'er ; 

Beheld  her  prairies  and  pronounced  them  good, 
And  rested,  satisfied  to  seek  no  more. 

For  them  the  sowing  and  the  toil,  the  tear, 

Where  others  reap  with  laughter  and  delight, 

So  cooling  springs  refresh  the  desert  drear 

From  sources  hid  in  some  far  mountain  height  " 

(From  "The  Pioneers"  by  George  Candee  Gale.) 


34 


TOWNSHIPS 

CEDAR  TOWNSHIP 
By  Mrs.  A.  I.  Sargent 

A  township  is  not  large,  yet,  he  who  tells  its  story  realizes 
how  many  people  live  within  its  borders  and  how  much  has 
been  lived  during  the  decades  that  are  past.  It  is  impossible 
to  tell  it  all.  I  will  sketch  briefly  the  first  ten  years  of  the 
township's  settlement  as  the  pioneer  days,  will  tell  something 
of  the  schools  and  churches  that  have  been  influential  in  its 
development  and  of  the  men  and  women  who  started  them,  will 
gladly  pay  tribute  to  those  who  went  from  its  borders  at  their 
country's  call,  and  will  mark  a  few  of  the  noteworthy  enter- 
prises in  which  its  citizens  have  had  a  share.  Most  of  the 
story  will  center  around  Abingdon  and  its  vicinity,  for  here 
the  first  settlement  was  made  and  here  is  the  larger  portion 
of  its  population. 

Cherry  Grove,  our  fathers  thought  to  call  this  township, 
because  of  the  abundance  of  wild  cherry  trees,  but,  finding 
that  name  already  pre-empted,  they  changed  to  Cedar,  a  name 
suggested  by  a  certain  cedar  tree,  which,  as  a  seedling,  Joseph 
Latimer  had  dug  up  on  his  journey  into  this  new,  wild  country 
and  had  planted  with  the  planting  of  his  home 

Some  government  claims  had  been  taken  in  the  township 
and  land  transfers  made  before  the  time  of  permanent  settle- 
mnt,  so  that  some  of  the  early  settlers  bought  or  traded  for 
their  land  and  some  filed  claims.  Government  land  was  $1.25 
per  acre.  In  those  early  days,  most  of  the  Western  and  East- 
ern borders  of  the  township  were  irregularly  but  heavily  tim- 
bered. Much  has  been  cut  away  but  beautiful  timber  may  still 
be  found  in  these  sections.  Between  its  wooded  borders, 
stretching  from  north  to  south,  were  miles  of  fertile  prairie. 

Pioneers 

Henderson  Township  is  always  spoken  of  as  having  the 
earliest  settlers  in  the  county.  It  is  not  probably  fully  realized 
that  Cedar  was  settled  the  same  year  and  only  a  few  months 
later. 

Among  the  families  I  shall  mention  as  pioneers  in  Cedar 
Township,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  more  than  half  are 
from  the  middle  southern  states,  Maryland,  Tennessee,  Ken- 
tucky, Virginia  and  the  Carolinas.  These  settlers  were  very 
largely  of  the  sturdy  Scotch-Irish  stock,  to  which  the  Histor- 


35 

ian,  Fiske,  pays  such  warm  tribute  of  praise,  in  showing  their 
enterprise  as  pioneers  and  their  prominence  in  legislative  life. 

The  first  recorded  settlers  in  Cedar  Township  were  Rev- 
Hiram  Palmer,  a  Methodist  preacher,  and  a  little  later,  Azel 
Dorsey,  who  settled  in  1828,  as  near  neighbors  on  Sections  7 
and  18.  In  less  than  a  year,  Dorsey  sold  out  his  claim  to  a  Mr. 
Finch,  who  also  soon  sold  out  and  both  men  left  for  other 
places.  Hiram  Palmer  moved  four  years  after  his  coming 
onto  Section  32,  where  the  Abingdon  cemetery  now  stands. 
The  first  settlers  whose  life  was  built  up  surely  and  lastingly 
into  the  life  of  the  community  was  Abraham  D.  Swartz,  who 
arrived  with  his  wife  in  1829,  settling  at  first  on  Section  17, 
but  moving  soon,  perhaps  with  Hiram  Palmer,  onto  Section  32. 
It  was  Mr.  Swartz  who  laid  out  Abingdon,  but  that  was  seven 
years  later. 

The  winter  of  1830  is  always  characterized  as  the  "winter 
of  the  deep  snow "  There  are  no  records  to  tell  how  these 
first  lonely  settlers  weathered  the  storms  of  that  notable 
winter  but  there  is  no  doubt  about  the  glad  welcome  they  ex- 
tended to  Joseph  Latimer  when  he  arrived  with  his  family 
early  in  1831.  Joseph  Latimer,  who  settled  on  Section  29, 
came  to  Illinois  from  Robertson  county,  Tennessee,  having 
gone  thither  many  years  before  by  ox  wagon  from  the  family 
home  near  New  London,  Connecticut.  As  a  young  boy  he  had 
watched  the  burning  of  New  London  by  the  British  and  cried 
because  he  was  not  old  enough  to  bear  arms.  His  father, 
Jonathan  Latimer,  se/ved  in  the  French  and  Indian  War  and 
was  a  Colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Six  sons,  older 
brothers  of  Joseph,  also  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  all 
df  them  at  some  time  under  their  father's  command.  Two,  one 
a  Major  and  one  a  Captain,  died  in  the  defense  of  Bunker  Hill. 

Mrs.  Joseph  Latimer,  who  shared  the  pioneer  days  in 
oedar  township  with  her  husband,  came  from  North  Carolina 
and  used  to  tell  the  story  as  she  remembered  it,  of  the  raid  of 
larleton's  men  on  her  father's  home  and  how  the  British  car- 
ried off  everything  they  wanted  from  the  house  and  cut  the 
rim  of  her  mother's  spinning  wheel.  Six  sons  and  daughters 
3f  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Latimer  had  been  married  in  Ten- 
lessee,  all  but  one  of  whom  later  followed  their  parents  to 
Knox  county.  Five  children  came  with  them  and  as  they  all 
figure  in  this  story,  I  will  name  them:  George,  John,  David, 
m  unmarried  daughter,  Susan,  and  a  widowed  daughter,  Mrs 
Sarah  L.  Boren, 

Mrs.  Boren  at  once  took  up  a  claim  of  her  own  and  settled 
mth  her  children  near  her  father  on  Section  29. 

George  added  to  the  early  settlement  in   the  following 


36 

manner:  In  the  Fall  of  1831,  some  business  necessitated  a 
trip  to  Vandalia,  at  that  time  the  capitol  of  the  state,  and 
George  Latimer  was  sent  on  this  errand.  In  Sangamon  county 
a  few  miles  south  of  Springfield,  he  stopped  over  night  at  the 
home  of  William  Drennan,  a  man  of  prominence  in  that  com- 
munity, where  the  guest  was  served  by  Mr.  Drennan's  seven- 
teen-year-old daughter.  They  had  not  met  before  and  did  not 
meet  again  until  just  a  year  from  the  time  of  his  first  visit 
George  Latimer  went  back  to  claim  her  as  his  bride.  Their 
wedding  journey  was  the  trip  on  horseback  through  the  glory 
of  the  October  woods  from  Sangamon  county  into  Knox  county 
where  he  had  a  log  cabin  ready  for  his  bride  on  Section  29 
Here  they  established  a  rarely  happy  and  influential  home. 

The  same  year,  Jonathan  Latimer  and  family,  Joseph's 
oldest  son,  came  up  from  Sangamon  county  where  they  had 
temporarily  resided  and  settled  on  Section  28.  With  them,  and 
settling  near  them  on  the  same  section,  came  Mrs.  Latimer's 
parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jacob  West.  Jonathan  Latimer  was  a 
man  of  marked  character,  who  figured  largely  in  the  commun- 
ity for  many  years.  He  began  his  business  career  in  the  town- 
ship by  trading  a  horse  for  the  land  upon  which  he  settled. 
He  was  ever  a  trader  but  combined  a  shrewd  knowledge  of 
values  with  a  kind  and  generous  heart.  He  has  one  son  still 
living  in  Cedar  township,  Hon.  Joseph  F.  Latimer,  three  times 
elected  to  the  Legislature,  whose  home  stands  right  where  his 
father's  log  cabin  was  built  in  1832 

In  1833,  Dennis  Clark,  then  a  young  man,  afterwards 
Knox  County  Judge,  came  up  from  •  Sangamon  County  and 
found  a  home  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Latimer,  He  had 
known  Mrs.  Latimer  before  her  marriage. 

In  1833,  Susan  Latimer  married  Urban  D.  Coy,  the  first 
marriage  to  take  place  in  Cedar  Township.  Soon  afterwards,, 
they  settled  on  Section  21. 

The  same  year,  John  Latimer  left  the  parental  roof  and 
became  the  first  permanent  white  settler  in  Indian  Point 
Township- 

Another  married  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Latimer, 
Alexander,  arrived  with  his  family  in  '34  and  settled  on  Section 
21.  About  the  same  time,  came  a  son-in-law,  Israel  Marshall, 
and  his  wife  Mary  Latimer  or  "Aunt  Polly"  as  she  was  gener- 
ally known.  They  settled  on  Section  31.  Israel  Marshall 
brought  with  him  from  Tennessee  some  fine-blooded  stock,  the 
first  to  be  brought  into  a  township  which  later  had  a  wide  repu- 
tation for  its  high  grade  stock. 

There  were  thus,  in  the  first  four  years  of  the  decade  from 
1830  to  1840,  six  Latimer  families  all  settled  near  each  other 


37 

in  the  Cherry  Grove  iieigborhood  and  one  just  over  the  Hne 
in  Indian  Point  Township. 

About  this  time,  other  settlers  were  arriving  in  other 
parts  of  the  Township.  Josehua  Bland  came  in  '33,  settling 
with  his  family  on  Section  16.  The  story  comes  down  to  us  of 
a  "corn  cracker  mill"  owned  by  Mr.  Bland.  It  stood  near 
where  the  Heller  School  house  now  stands  and  although  a 
primitive  affair,  run  by  horse-power,  it  ground  many  a  grist 
of  corn  for  the  scattered  neighbors  who  were  thankful  not  to 
be  obliged  to  go  as  far  as  Ellisville,  on  Spoon  River,  to  get 
their  corn  ground  A  few  years  ago,  Stewart  Williamson,  a 
grandson  of  Mr.  Bland's,  had  the  old  mill  post  around  which 
the  horses  or  oxen  plodded  their  monotonous  way,  dug  up  and 
made  into  canes. 

Early  Comers 

There  was  early  a  scattering  settlement  along  the  eastern 
timber  border.  The  year  1834  saw  the  arrival  in  the  township 
of  seven  families  with  staying  qualities.  All  but  one  settled 
in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  township.  The  one  exception  was 
Wm.  Kays,  who,  with  his  wife,  came  from  Kentucky,  stopping 
temporarily  in  Indiana,  and  established  his  home  on  Section  8, 
about  three  miles  north  of  the  Latimer  settlement. 

Hugh  A.  Kelly,  prominent  in  township  life  for  many  years, 
and  his  wife,  came  from  West  Virginia  and  settled  on  Section 
15. 

The  Castle  brothers,  coming  also  from  West  Virginia  with 
temporary  stops  along  the  way,  took  up  claims,  Reuben  and 
Henry  on  Section  12  and  George  on  Section  26  They  were  all 
prosperous  farmers  and  good  citizens.  Two  grandsons  of 
George  Castle,  George  and  Thomas,  sons  of  Vinton  Castle,  are 
living  now  in  Abingdon. 

Onto  Section  1  came  William  Thomas  Williamson  with  his 
wife  and  family  of  young  people.  He  came  here  from  Indiana 
where  he  lived  for  a  time,  but  his  boyhood  home  was  in  New 
England.  His  father  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
War  and  once  when  he,  with  others,  was  hard  pressed  by  the 
British ;  he  had  dropped  out  of  sight  behind  a  log  and  the 
British  had  passed  him  by  unseen,  he  thus  escaping  capture. 
Mr.  Thomas  Williamson's  sons  and  daughters  married  and 
many  of  them  settled  around  him  where  they  were  highly 
respec:ted  citizens.  His  son,  James,  married  a  daughter  of 
Mr  Bland's  and  they,  with  their  married  sons  and  daughters, 
later  became,  and  some  still  are  especially  identified  with  the 
neighborhood  around  Warren  Chapel.  Squire  Frank  Williamson 
and  Stewart  Williamson,  of  Galesburg,  are  the  sons  of  James 
Williamson.  He  also  has  descendants  in  and  around  Abingdon. 
Children  and  grandchildren  of  James  Williamson  were  fond  of 


38 

hearing  him  tell  of  riding  over  the  site  where  Galesburg  later 
stood,  when  the  only  road  was  the  Indian  trail  from  Henderson 
to  Brush  Creek,  which  crossed  the  goodly  stream  of  Cedar 
Fork  where  Leroy  Marsh's  horse  barn  now  stands. 

With  the  Williamson's,  came  Daniel  Green  Burner,  a  na- 
tive of  Kentucky,  who  resided  in  Sangamon  County  before 
coming  to  Knox.  Abraham  Lincoln  boarded  at  Green  Burner's 
father's  home  for  four  years  in  New  Salem  and  he  and  Lincoln 
slept  together.  When  the  Burners  left  their  home  in  New 
Salem  to  come  to  Knox  County,  it  was  Abraham  Lincoln  who 
drew  up  the  deed  of  sale.  Green  Burner  settled  on  Section  1 
and  from  that  time  on  through  a  long  life  he  was  closely  iden- 
tified with  this  part  of  the  township.  He  added  many  fertile 
acres  to  those  originally  taken  up  until  he  was  the  owner  of 
more  than  one  thousand.  The  widow  and  part  of  the  family  of 
his  son,  Milton,  are  now  living  in  Cedar  Township,  a  few  miles 
north  of  Abingdon. 

Settling  as  near  neighbors  to  the  Williamson's  and  Bur- 
ner's and  coming  the  same  year,  was  the  Swartz  family,  which 
from  that  day  to  this  have  been  prominent  in  the  Brush  Creek 
neighborhood.  Albert  Swartz  and  his  sisters.  Miss  Mary  and 
Miss  Sarah  Swartz,  are  still  living  on  the  original  farni,  now 
beautiful  cultivated,  which  was  occupied  by  their  grandfather 
in  its  wild  state,  while  their  brother  Thomas  lives  on  his  own 
farm  across  the  road. 

The  seventh  family  to  arrive  that  year  was  that  of  George 
Long,  who  came  from  Ohio  They  spent  their  first  winter  in 
Knoxville,  and  the  next  year  settled  upon  the  farm  on  Section 
12,  where  some  wooded  land  then  purchased  is  still  owned  by 
members  of  the  Long  family.  Two  sons  of  Mr.  Long,  George 
and  William,  when  returning  home  from  the  mill  at  Hender- 
son, were  caught  in  a  snow  storm  and  lost  their  way  on  the 
wide  prairie  where  Galesburg  now  stands.  They  wandered 
around,  through  the  growing  darkness  until  they  came  upon  a 
little  stream  to  the  southward  that  they  knew  and  so  found 
their  way  home.  The  township  is  indebted  to  the  Long  family 
for  many  years  of  teaching  in  its  public  schools.  George 
Long,  the  son  of  George  Long,  taught  school  as  a  young  man 
and  put  his  earnings  into  the  first  payment  for  an  eighty  acre 
piece  of  prairie  land,  paying  for  it  $5.00  per  acre.  His  sister, 
Martha  Long,  was  a  teacher  in  Cedar  Township  and  Knox 
County  for  a  number  of  years,  and  his  daughter,  Miss  Jennie 
Long,  taught  in  the  public  schools  of  the  county  for  38  years, 
part  of  the  time  in  Cedar  Township  and  for  29  years  in  the 
city  of  Galesburg  Another  daughter.  Miss  Catherine  Long, 
was  prominent  in  W.  C.  T.  U.  work,  for  eight  years  being 
State  Superintendent  of  its  Department  of  Work  for  SoMiers 


39 

and  Sailors  of  Illinois.    These  two  daughters  are  now  living  in 
Galesburg. 

Largely  through  the  efforts  of  their  mother,  Mrs.  Geo. 
Long,  a  Sunday  School  was  started  in  an  early  day  in  the 
Brush  Creek  School  House  and  maintained  through  many  diffi- 
culties. This  Sunday  School  kept  up  more  consecutive  years 
of  service  than  any  country  Sunday  School  in  the  Township. 

An  early  wedding  in  the  township  was  that  of  Miss  Mary 
Long  with  Reuben  Castle. 

Settling  on  Section  11  along  the  road  traveled  by  the 
pioneers  in  their  trips  to  Knoxville  for  trade,  was  another 
worthy  family,  who,  among  the  first  to  arrive  in  1835,  have 
descendants  living  in  Knox  County  This  was  Thomas  Marsh 
and  his  wife,  the  parents  of  LeRoy  Marsh,  Mrs.  Blair  and  Mrs. 
Crawford  of  Galesburg. 

With  them  came  Elisha  Humiston  and  family  who  settled 
nearby.  Mr.  Humiston  later  moved  on  to  Section  17.  In  the 
northwest  part  of  this  section  is  a  small,  fenced-in  grave  yard, 
known  as  the  Humiston  Burial  Ground. 

Before  turning  to  other  localities,  mention  should  be  made 
of  Lewis  Spurlock  and  Williams  Bevins  Both  came  in  '34  and 
settled  on  Section  23.  So  far  as  I  know,  none  of  their  descend- 
ants are  now  left  in  the  county,  but  they  had  a  place  in  the 
community  life  in  the  early  days  for  Lewis  Spurlock  was  a 
great  deer  hunter  and  William  Bevins  was  a  great  bee  hunter, 
and  the  venison  and  honey  they  brought  in  for  the  little  colony 
were  much  enjoyed.  The  Spurlock  name  is  also  associated  with 
other  parts  of  the  township. 

In  the  northwest  corner  of  the  township,  near  where  War- 
ren Chapel  now  stands,  Uziah  Conger,  coming  from  New  York 
State,  settled  in  the  early  thirties.  His  family  of  nine  sons 
and  one  daughter  grew  up  around  him  here,  some  of  them 
marrying  and  living  in  the  neighborhood  for  many  years.  Here 
were  spent  the  boyhood  of  Edwin  H.  Conger,  who,  when  Am- 
bassador to  China,  won  the  gratitude  of  the  Chinese  people 
for  his  valuable  advice  in  helping  settle  the  indemnity  money 
question,  after  the  Boxer  uprising  and  who  gave  the  rich  and 
beautiful  banner,  presented  to  him  by  the  Chinese  people,  to 
Lombard  College.  He  was  a  grandson  of  Uziah  Conger  and 
the  son  of  Lorentus,  who  served  the  county  on  its  Board  of  Su- 
pervisors at  the  time  of  the  Court  House  fight.  Here  also 
grew  up  Seth  Conger,  another  grandson,  later  identified  with 
business  interests  in  Galesburg,  whose  son  Frank  L.  Conger  is 
at  the  present  time  cashier  in  the  First  National  Bank  of  that 
citv. 


40 

Into  this  neighborhood  also,  at  a  somewhat  later  date, 
came  Ralph  Mount.  Two  of  Mr.  Mount's  sons,  Thomas  and 
William,  owned  farms  and  lived  for  many  years  along  the 
main  road  between  Abingdon  and  Galesburg  It  was  one  of 
his  sons  also  who  failed  to  return  home  at  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War  and  his  brothers  and  sisters,  supposing  him  dead,  divided 
his  portion  of  the  estate  among  themselves,  when  suddenly  one 
day  he  arrived  home  all  alive  and  well  and  they  gave  it  back 
again. 

Into  this  northwest  section  of  the  Township  (Section  6) 
in  1836,  came  Francis  Portus  Goddard  whose  son.  Uncle  Jimmy 
Goddard,  a  veteran  of  the  Civil  War,  lives  there  still. 

In  the  central  north  portion  of  the  township,  in  1835, 
Benjamin  Marks  who  came  from  Kentucky,  was  the  first  to 
stake  a  claim  out  on  the  open  prairie.  "You  will  freeze  in  win- 
ter," they  told  him,  but  the  fierce  winter  winds  blew  the  snow 
banks  around  and  clear  over  his  little  cabin  and  kept  it  snug 
and  warm.  Benjamin  Marks'  son,  Pleasant,  has  long  owned 
the  farm  on  which  his  father  settled,  adding  to  it  many  acres 
of  his  own  and  is  proud  to  tell  of  this  land  having  been  in  the 
Marks  family  for  83  years. 

Other  early  names  in  this  general  locality  are  Garrett, 
McPherren,  Lowrey,  Nelson,  Crawford,  Belden,  Bundy  and 
Snyder,  who  later  lived  in  Abingdon  and  added  Snyder's  addi- 
tion to  that  town. 

Because  of  her  long  residence  in  the  township,  "Grandma 
Reed"  should  be  especially  mentioned-  She  and  her  husband, 
John  Reed,  settled  in  the  edge  of  the  timber  southwst  of  Ben- 
jamin Marks'  home  in  '36.  The  location  was  near  an  excellent 
spring  and  had  been  a  favorite  camping  ground  for  the  Indians 
before  the  Black  Hawk  War-  After  her  husband's  death,  Mrs. 
Reed,  who  was  born  near  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  continued  to 
live  in  this  part  of  the  township,  spending  her  last  years  in 
the  home  of  her  son-in-law,  James  Kays.  She  lived  to  be 
niriety-seven  years  old.  James  Kays'  son.  Reed  Kays,  is  living 
on  the  Reed  farm  today. 

The  Dunlap  family,  prominently  connected  with  the  town- 
ship's life,  came  during  the  latter  half  of  that  first  decade. 
Henry  Dunlap,  with  his  two  sons,  Edmund  and  Jackson,  and 
his  daughter,  Mary,  took  the  long  journey  on  horseback  from 
Kentucky  to  Illinois,  Knox  County  and  Cedar  Township.  They 
arrived  early  in  '37  and  settled  just  north  of  Cherry  Grove,  the 
father  on  Section  20,  and  Edmund  making  a  home  for  his  bride 
of  a  few  months  on  Section  19,  where  his  twin  daughters,  Alice 
and  Ellen,  still  live.  Edmund  Dunlap  paid  $100.00  for  his  orig- 
inal one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.     A  few  months  later,  Mrs. 


41 

Henry  Dunlap,  with  her  children  and  Edmund's  young  wife, 
arrived  to  complete  the  home  circles  They  came  by  boat  down 
the  Ohio  and  up  the  Mississippi  to  Oquawka,  bringing  their 
household  goods  with  them.  They  brought  also  a  colored 
woman,  whom  Mrs.  Henry  Dunlap's  father  had  presented  to 
his  daughter  to  be  nurse  for  her  first  baby.  Henry  Dunlap,  as 
the  law  required,  went  security  for  her  good  behavior.  Aunt 
Phyllis,  as  she  was  generally  known,  lived  to  be  very  old  and 
acted  as  nurse  to  four  generations  of  Dunlap  children. 

So  far  as  is  known,  the  only  one  now  living  who  remem- 
bers coming  to  Cedar  Township  in  that  first  decade  is  J.  W- 
Stephens,  who,  when  a  lad  of  thirteen,  came  with  his  father, 
in  1838,  and  settled  on  Section  16.  Mr.  Stephens  is  ninety- 
three  years  old,  a  tall,  well-preserved  man,  whose  memory  is 
clear  and  who  abounds  in  many  and  interesting  reminiscences. 
His  father,  when  he  came,  bought  of  Mr.  Kays  eighty  acres  of 
fenced  and  improved  land  for  which  he  paid  $10.00  per  acre. 
The  original  Stephens'  land  is  now  owned  by  J.  W.  Stephens' 
son,  Charles,  and  so  has  been  in  the  Stephens  family  since  '38. 
Mr.  Stephens  tells  of  his  first  trip  to  the  village  of  Knoxville 
the  summer  of  their  arrival  where  he  saw  the  old  Court  House, 
the  one  now  standing,  in  process  of  erection.  Its  walls  at  that 
time  were  up  about  four  feet. 

The  decade  of  the  forties  saw  the  township  rapidly  filling 
up.  I  will  not  trace  its  population  farther  with  just  one  excep- 
tion I  want  to  mention  Isaac  Hunter,  who,  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Mr.  Jordan,  came  from  New  England  to  Peoria  in  1839 
and  on  to  Knox  County  and  Cedar  Township  in  '41,  building  a 
log  cabin  on  Section  23.  Here  he  lived  for  many  years.  At  the 
time  of  his  sojourn  in  Peoria  in  '39  and  '40,  it  was  a  town  of 
seven  hundred  inhabitants.  Later  Mr.  Hunter  drove  a  stage 
coach  between  Peoria  and  Rock  Island  but  the  story  most  often 
told  of  him  is  of  how  he  and  Mr.  Jordan  drove  1,000  sheep 
across  country  from  Massachusetts  to  Illinois,  the  trip  taking 
one  hundred  and  twenty-two  days. 

Early  Conditions  and  Experiences 

Now  that  the  township  is  furnished  with  inhabitants  who 
have  gotten  a  firm  foothold  it  is  time  to  hear  a  few  tales  that 
have  come  down  to  us  of  these  early  days. 

It  is  natural  to  wonder  whether  or  not  the  early  settlers 
were  troubled  by  Indians.  There  are  indications  that,  at  a  still 
earlier  day,  the  Indians  had  had  favorite  camping  places  on 
Cedar  Township  land,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Brush  Creek. 
Leroy  Marsh  tells  of  plowing  his  father's  faiTn  when  he  was  a 
boy  and  finding  many  arrow  heads  and  once  the  skull  of  an 
Indian.     There  are  some  reasons  for  thinking  they  favored 


42 

other  localities  in  the  Township  but  none  were  very  pro- 
nounced. Indians  frequently  found  their  way  to  the  homes  of 
the  settlers  and  often  frightened  them,  but  there  is  no  record 
of  their  being  distinctly  hostile. 

Something  of  the  terror  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  days  in 
'31  and  '32  was  felt  by  the  pioneers  of  Cedar  Township,  al- 
though all  alarms  proved  false.  Mrs.  Joseph  Latimer,  look- 
ing from  her  door  just  at  dusk  one  evening,  saw  that  some 
kind  of  visitors  were  approaching.  They  were  coming  single 
file  almost  completely  hidden  by  the  tall  prairie  grass.  She 
instantly  thought  of  Indians  but  her  alarm  was  quieted  when 
she  saw  Mrs  Swartz  with  her  children.  Lonely  and  afraid, 
they  had  come  to  spend  the  night,  Mr.  Swartz  being  away 
from  home. 

From  the  little  settlement  at  Cherry  Grove,  the  name 
given  to  the  neighborhood  where  the  Latimers  first  settled, 
consisting  of  three  or  four  families,  George  Latimer  and  U.  D. 
Coy  joined  the  volunteer  rangers  in  the  Black  Hawk  War. 
George  Latimer  was  first  lieutenant  when  the  little  volunteer 
band  was  formed.  How  rank  was  determined  at  that  time,  I 
do  not  know  but  always  after  the  Black  Hawk  War,  these  two 
men  were  known  as  Colonel  Latimer  and  Major  Coy.  Each  of 
the  Rangers  furnished  his  own  horse.  One  hundred  guns  were 
brought  from  Rock  Island  to  Oquawka  and  from  there  by 
wagon  to  Knox  and  Warren  Counties.  The  men  from  these 
counties  ranged  as  far  as  the  Mississippi  river  in  the  vicinity 
of  Oquawka.  They  were  gone  from  home  more  than  two 
months  and  did  good  guard  service,  although  engaging  in  no 
battles.  Each  man  was  paid  eighty-six  cents  per  day  for  him- 
self and  horse. 

About  the  Indians 

In  the  years  following  the  Black  Hawk  War,  the  Indians 
almost  all  crossed  the  Mississippi  either  voluntarily  or  taken 
to  reservation  lands  by  the  government.  A  large  band  of 
Indians  very  early  camped  in  their  westward  journey  on  a 
hill  south  of  Jonathan  Latimer's  home.  A  granddaughter  of 
his,  in  a  school  composition  when  she  was  quite  young,  tells  a 
little  incident  of  this  Indian  Camp  in  these  words:  "One  little 
Indian  shot  another,  and  the  murdered  boy  was  buried  on  the 
hill,  with  his  head  to  the  north  and  his  heels  to  the  south,  with 
his  pipe,  tobacco,  guns  and  his  valuable  trinkets,  beads,  furs 
and  feathers  also.  Being  a  chief's  son,  there  was  a  great  "Pow- 
wow" at  his  death.  My  Aunt  Emily  attended  the  funeral  and  re- 
members distinctly  about  it"  By  Indian  rule,  the  little  boy 
who  shot  the  other  should  forfeit  his  life  but  Colonel  Sands, 
who  was  conducting  the  Indians  westward,  succeeded  in  ar- 
ranging a  compromise  whereby  the  parents  of  the  boy  that 
was  killed  received  certain  valuable  gifts.     While  these  nego- 


43 

tiations  were  being  made,  the  boy  was  kept  in  hiding  in  the 
Brush  Creek  woods. 

A  very  large  company  of  Indians,  estimated  at  from  five 
hundred  to  seven  hundred,  accompanied  by  government  offi- 
cials, on  their  way  to  western  reservation  land,  crossed  the 
township,  camping  over  night  by  Brush  Creek.  Leroy  Marsh, 
then  a  little  boy,  visited  the  camp  which  was  about  half  a  mile 
from  his  father's  farm  and  was  badly  frightened  by  their  yells 
to  each  other.  One  of  the  government  teamsters,  accompany- 
ing the  Indians,  was  taken  ill  and  left  at  the  Marsh  home  where 
he  was  cared  for  for  several  weeks. 

The  log  cabins  of  the  first  settlers  have  been  often  de- 
scribed. The  more  pretentions  ones  had  two  large  rooms  with 
an  intervening  space,  roofed,  and  enclosed  on  one  side.  Each 
room  had  its  large  fireplace  with  cooking  accommodations  and 
a  bed  or  beds  and  trundle  beds,  a  spinning  wheel  and  sometimes 
a  loom.  The  construction  of  such  dwellings  was  not  a  lengthy 
process.  Neighborly  helpfulness  was  universal.  Mr.  Stephens 
tells  an  incident  which  illustrates  this.  Wm.  Kays  had  eight 
daughters  and  one  son.  Two  married  daughters  were  early 
left  widows  and  returned  to  their  father's  house  with  their 
children.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  family  were  undesirably 
numerous,  considering  the  log  house  accommodations,  so  a  day 
was  set,  the  neighbors  all  came  early,  cut  and  hauled  the 
timber,  and  in  one  day  put  up  a  log  cabin  of  the  double  kind 
just  mentioned,  so  that  one  daughter  and  her  family  had  one 
end  and  the  other,  the  other.  In  like  manner,  when  Alexander 
Latimer's  log  house  burned  down,  the  neighbors  gathered  and 
helped  him  put  up  another.  Here  again  in  one  day,  the  trees 
were  cut  down  and  the  building  erected  The  next  day,  he  put 
down  the  puncheon  floor,  cut  some  windows  and  made  some 
furniture  and  that  evening  the  family  moved  in.  Alexander 
Latimer's  one  chief  regret  in  connection  with  the  burning  of 
his  log  cabin  was  that  a  number  of  letters  written  by  Abraham 
Lincoln  to  himself  were  destroyed.  He  had  served  under  Lin- 
coln in  the  Black  Hawk  War  and  was  greatly  attached  to  him. 

Soon  after  Jonathan  Latimer  came,  his  horses  strayed 
away  and  he  was  gone  several  days  hunting  for  them.  The 
finishing  touches  had  not  been  put  upon  his  cabin  and  their 
only  door  was  a  bed  tick  hanging  down  from  the  top,  weighted 
at  the  bottom  with  straw.  So  plentiful  were  the  wolves  at  that 
time  that  during  the  three  nights  of  his  absence,  Mrs.  Latimer 
had  to  keep  a  bright  fire  burning  in  the  fireplace  to  keep  the 
hungry  animals  from  coming  in.  Wolves  were  great  pests  to 
the  early  settlers,  especially  in  their  propensity  to  carry  off  the 
sheep,  for  almost  everyone  owned  some  sheep,  upon  which  they 
depended  for  the  wool  to  be  carded,  spun  and  woven  into 
blankets  and  clothing.    Panthers  were  not  uncommon  and  old 


44 

and  young  avoided  paths  which  led  through  thick  underbrush 
at  night.  Deer  were  also  plentiful  for  a  time,  as  were  many 
kinds  of  small  game. 

Log  cabins  soon  began  to  give  place  to  more  pretentious 
houses.  In  1840,  Jonathan  Latimer  began  the  construction  of 
a  commodious  brick  house,  which  was  long  considered  a  fine 
dwelling.  It  was  built  in  southern  style  with  a  wide  hall  ex- 
tending through  it  from  north  to  south.  He  had  chosen  a 
rarely  beautiful  building  site  and  had  planted  two  long  rows  of 
maple  trees  which  soon  formed  a  handsome  avenue  leading  to 
the  house.  The  lumber  used  in  the  house  came  from  his  own 
timber  and  the  bricks  were  made  from  clay  dug  on  his  fann 
and  burned  in  two  kilns  he  had  made.  The  first  brick  burnec 
he  sold  to  buy  window  glass  and  to  pay  for  the  sawing  of  the 
black  walnut  lumber  and  the  oak  shingles. 

Watson  Barber,  living  just  north  of  Louisville,  hauled 
lumber  on  wagons  from  Chicago  and  put  up  a  frame  house  foi 
himself.    This  house  was  torn  down  only  a  few  years  ago 

Mrs.  Joseph  Latimer  and  Mrs.  Swartz  used  to  go  on  horse- 
back fifteen  miles  to  Henderson  to  trade  before  there  was  a 
store  in  Knoxville.  Knoxville  being  nearer  and  of  growing  im- 
portance, soon  became  the  trade  center  for  Cedar  Township 
people.  Heavy,  wide-gauge  wagons,  drawn  by  either  oxen  or 
horses,  were  used  at  first  but  lighter  and  less  clumsy  vehicles 
must  have  soon  come  into  use.  Horseback  riding  was  uni- 
versal. The  women  were  expert  riders,  often  carrying  farm 
produce  to  market  in  this  way  and  bringing  back  goods  in 
exchange.  At  one  time,  Mrs.  Jonathan  Latimer  marketed  so 
much  maple  sugar  of  her  own  making  and  lindsey-woolsey  of 
her  own  weaving  that  when  the  trading  was  finished  she  still 
had  fifty  dollars  to  her  credit. 

Stoves  were  rare.  There  was  occasionally  a  square-boxed 
heating  stove  to  be  found  but  cook  stoves  did  not  come  into 
the  township  until  the  very  last  of  that  first  decade.  Then 
one  was  hauled  down  from  Chicago  by  Mr.  Garrett.  J.  W. 
Stephens,  at  that  time  a  boy  in  his  teens,  tells  of  going  to  see 
this  stove  as  a  great  curiostiy. 

For  laundry  purposes  in  the  very  earliest  days,  any  good 
sized  stream  was  sufficient.  Mrs.  Swartz  and  Mrs  Jonathan 
Latimer  would  carry  their  washing  down  to  the  creek  where 
together  they  washed  the  clothes.  When  these  were  dry  and 
ready  to  iron,  they  would  carry  the  clothes  to  one  or  the  other 
cabin  and  visit  while  they  ironed. 

The  Markets 

The  nearest  markets  where  the  Cedar  Township  farmers 
could  dispose  of  their  grain,  corn  and  stock  were  at  Oquawka, 


45 

about  forty  miles  distant  and  especially  at  Peoria  some  fifty 
miles  away  and  Copperas  Landing,  below  Peoria.  Mr.  Stephens 
says  he  has  hauled  many  a  load  of  corn  to  Peoria,  and  sold  it 
for  fifteen  cents  a  bushel,  taking  it  out  in  trade.  Mr.  Stephens 
spent  one  winter  helping  run  the  saw  mill  at  Old  Henderson 
which  sawed  the  logs  for  the  old  First  Church  at  Galesburg. 
As  a  young  man,  he  sometimes  came  to  Galesburg  for  evening 
entertainments  and  it  was  not  easy  to  take  the  ride  home  with- 
out getting  lost,  as  all  was  open  prairie  to  his  home  some  six 
or  seven  miles  south.  To  use  his  expression,  "there  was  not  a 
stick  from  there  to  Galesburg." 

In  case  of  sickness,  home  remedies  were  mostly  used. 
Knoxville  was  the  nearest  place  where  medical  aid  could  be 
secured.  In  the  Fall  of  1836  Joseph  Latimer's  youngest  son, 
David,  was  seriously  ill.  He  was  taken  to  a  doctor  in  Knoxville 
who  asked  that  he  be  left  in  his  care  for  a  few  weeks.  Seeming 
improved  in  health,  his  brother-in-law.  Major  Coy,  with  the 
best  conveyance  obtainable  at  the  time,  was  sent  to  bring  him 
home.  When  well  on  their  homeward  jouniey,  the  young  man 
complained  of  feeling  faint  and  asked  Major  Coy  to  help  him  to 
alight.  There,  sitting  by  the  roadside,  death  came  quickly  and 
with  no  one  to  call  upon  for  help.  Major  Coy  lifted  his  brother's 
body  into  the  conveyance  and  went  on  alone  to  the  sad  home 
coming. 

These  are  some  of  the  experiences  of  those  early  days  in 
Cedar  Township.    While  some  were  hard  and  some  were  sad, 
the    pleasant    part    predominated    for    the    exuberance    and 
strength  of  youth  was  in  the  newly  settled  country- 
Schools 

The  history  of  the  township's  schools  and  churches  began 
with  its  settling.  From  the  day  when  A.  D.  Swartz  and  Azel 
Dorsey  joined  Hiram  Palmer  in  1829,  religious  services  have 
been  maintained.  The  services  were  held  first  in  Mr.  Swartz's 
house,  where  also,  four  years  later,  a  church  organization  with 
seven  members  was  effected.  From  this  humble  beginning 
grew  the  strong  Methodist  Church  of  Abingdon  which  later 
founded  and  fostered  Hedding  College.  But  before  that  day, 
there  was  a  school  at  Cherry  Grove,  the  outgrowth  of  another 
church  organization,  which  was  far-reaching  in  its  influence. 
In  Chapman's  History  of  Knox  County  is  this  sentence,  "The 
first  church  and  school  house  erected  in  the  county,  was  at 
Cherry  Grove  in  Cedar  Township  in  1832,  and  Major  Coy  said 
he  cut  the  first  log  for  this  church  and  school  house."  It  was  a 
log  building  and  stood  just  southwest  of  where  Cherry  Grove 
Cemetery  now  is.  Both  religious  services  and  school  were  held 
in  this  building.  The  school  and  church  were  always  so  closely 
associated  that  their  story  belongs  together. 


46 

On  June  20th,  1835,  at  the  home  of  Joseph  Latimer,  a 
little  company  met  and  organized  a  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church  with  thirteen  members.  Joseph  Latimer  and  John 
Howard  were  elected  Elders  and  George  G.  Latimer,  clerk, 
an  office  he  held  until  his  death,  thirteen  years  later.  The 
records  of  this  meeting  and  those  that  followed  are  in  the  pos- 
session today  of  one  of  Geo.  Latimer's  descendants.  Quaint 
old  records  they  are  and  interesting  reading.  The  brethren  and 
sisters  are  carefully  watched  over  and  reproved  by  the  church 
when  their  steps  go  astray.  The  little  church,  full  of  zeal  and 
purpose,  in  1836,  the  year  after  its  organization,  erected  a 
frame  building  which  stood  about  eighty  rods  northeast  of  the 
school  house  "in  a  beautiful  walnut  and  sugar  maple  grove,  just 
at  the  edge  of  the  prairie  "  It  was  here  that  Cherry  Grove 
Seminary  was  started,  by  this  young  church,  in  1837. 


Cherry  Grove  Seminary 

Its  beginning  was  small  but  the  hopes  of  its  founders 
were  large.  They  hoped  the  school  might  develop  into  a  college 
and  in  1840,  a  charter  from,  the  state  for  a  first  class  college 
was  obtained.  A  graduate  of  both  Cherry  Grove  Seminary 
and  Knox  College,  in  later  years,  compared  the  curriculum  of 
the  two  young  schools  and  found  them  almost  exactly  the 
same  except  that  more  Latin  and  Greek  were  taught  at  Cherry 
Grove.  In  1841,  Rev.  Cyrus  Haynes,  a  college  graduate  and  an 
experienced  and  capable  teacher,  took  charge  as  principal.  Let 
me  quote  from  Perry's  Knox  County  History:  "For  eight 
years,  under  Mr.  Haynes'  management,  the  school  prospered. 
In  his  time,  a  considerable  addition  was  built,  adjoining  the 
church,  to  afford  more  room  for  the  school.  In  1849,  a  large, 
substantial,  two-story  frame  building  was  erected,  the  lower 
story  for  a  Chapel  and  church  purposes,  fhe  upper  story  ar- 
ranged for  recitations  and  other  school  uses. 

"Mr.  Haynes  was  followed  by  a  succession  of  strong,  wide- 
awake teachers  among  them  Rev.  J.  M.  B.  Roach,  C.  H.  Baker, 
Rev.  J  C.  Wagamon  and  others,  all  of  whom  did  good  work  and 
under  whose  management  the  school  continued  to  prosper. 
There  came  to  the  school  a  fine  class  of  young  people,  earnest, 
enthusiastic  and  loyal.  There  was  a  successful  literary  society, 
the  Upsilon,  and  a  semi-monthly  paper,  "The  Cherry  Leaf," 
edited  by  the  students.  Also,  in  later  years,  music  was  taught. 
The  school  was  in  a  sense  under  the  advice  and  patronage  of 
the  Rushville  Presbytery  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  There  were  students  from  a  large  part  of  Western 
Illinois  and  they  came  also  from  Iowa,  Missouri  and  Kentucky. 
A  very  large  percent  of  those  who  were  students  here  made  a 
good  record  in  after  life,  some  remarkably  so. 


47 

"There  were  grouped  about  Cherry  Grove  Seminary- 
grounds  and  within  a  half  mile,  ten  or  twelve  houses  where 
these  students  were  boarded  or  boarded  themselves.  Besides 
these,  home  from  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half  away,  took  stud- 
ents to  board  when  it  was  necessary.  In  maintaining  Cherry 
Grove  Seminary,  all  the  community  joined  heartily.  Many 
sacrifices  were  necessary  and  were  made  cheerfully.  In  some 
respects,  the  burdens  fell  heaviest  on  the  women,  who,  with 
meagre  facilities  for  doing  so  and  very  small  pay,  had  to  care 
for  the  students  and  see  that  they  had  as  comfortable  homes 
as  possible  while  at  school.  Some  of  the  students  were  poor 
and  some  of  the  young  men  were  studying  for  the  ministiy  and 
were  to  be  encouraged  in  every  possible  way. 

"Among  the  many  unselfish  and  devoted  women  who 
helped  in  this,  one  is  worthy  of  especially  mention  because  of 
her  long  service  and  her  helpful  influence.  When  Cherry 
Grove  Seminary  was  started,  George  Latimer  with  his  father 
and  brothers,  Jonathan  and  Alexander,  were  among  the  active 
leaders  in  the  move  and  gave  much  of  their  time  and  liberally 
of  their  means  in  forwarding  the  enterprise.  George  Latimer's 
home  was  but  sixty  rods  from  the  Seminary  and  Church  build- 
ing and  every  interest  that  pertained  to  either,  always  received 
a  cheerful  and  hearty  support  from  Mrs.  Latimer.  She  was 
with  the  foremost  in  entertaining  comers  and  goers  and  al- 
ways, of  course,  without  a  thought  of  pay.  When  the  school 
was  started  and  from  that  time  on,  her  home  was  always  full 
of  students  and  at  almost  a  nominal  price  for  board.  Her  sym- 
pathy for  and  helpfulness  to  young  men  were  a  marked  feature 
of  her  life.  Here  Dennis  Clark,  who  for  eighteen  years  served 
so  acceptably  as  judge  of  the  Knox  County  Court,  lived  for 
twelve  years.  He  always  held  Mrs.  Latimer  in  grateful  esteem 
and  affection.  In  1848,  Mrs.  Latimer's  first  great  sorrow 
came.  In  the  space  of  two  weeks,  her  husband  and  three  child- 
ren were  taken  by  death,  two  of  the  children  being  buried  in 
one  grave.  Left  with  the  entire  care  of  a  young  family,  in 
addition  to  her  household  duties,  she  now  took  the  management 
of  the  farm.  Her  only  son  was  but  ten  years  old.  Besides 
her  watchful  care  and  training  of  her  five  children,  her  man- 
agement of  the  farm  and  stock  upon  it  was  equal  to  that  of 
the  best  farmers  in  the  neighbood.  Meanwhile,  she  in  no 
degree  relaxed  her  interest  in  the  school.  Her  only  son,  after 
attending  Cherry  Grove  Seminary,  graduated  from  Knox  Col- 
lege and  the  Law  School  at  Albany,  New  York.  Without  com- 
ing home  from  Albany,  he  went  directly  into  his  country's 
service.  In  the  Fall  of  1864,  while  on  shipboard  off  Fortress 
Monroe,  returning  from  an  expedition  into  the  Carolinas,  he 
died  of  yellow  fever  and  was  buried  at  sea."  What  it  meant 
to  this  widowed  mother  to  have  her  only  son  fall  in  the  service 
of  his  country,  just  when  he  so  well  prepared  for  the  work  of 


48 

manhood,  many  mothers  at  the  present  time  can  understand. 
With  sincerest  sympathy,  her  many  student  friends  shared  her 
sorrow. 

Let  me  pause  just  here  to  note  again  the  date  of  the 
founding  of  Cherry  Grove  Seminary,  1837,  the  year  we  Gales- 
burg  people  know  so  well  as  the  year  of  the  founding  of  Knox 
College.  These  two  institutions  then  were  twins.  Though  not  so 
perfect  in  its  conception  and  organization  as  the  college  we 
honor,  yet  it  is  with  pride  and  a  sense  of  appreciative  gratitude 
that  I  write  of  this  school.  Honoring  as  I  do  and  have  long 
done  with  all  my  heart,  the  founders  of  Galesburg  and  Knox 
College,  I  want  here  to  pay  a  tribute  to  these  other  founders, 
still  earlier  pioneers,  who,  having  experienced  the  sense  of 
insecurity  against  Indians  and  wild  animals  and  endured  cheer- 
fully the  discomforts  and  inconveniences  of  the  very  early  days 
and  who,  without  any  strong  and  well  organized  colony  to 
stand  back  of  them  with  sympathy  and  financial  support,  yet 
conceived,  prayed  over  and  established  a  school  which  did  them 
honor,  throughout  its  almost  thirty  years  of  history. 

"In  the  year  1866,  there  was  located  at  Lincoln,  Illinois, 
a  college  by  the  Cumberland  Presbterian  churches  of  the  state. 
This  school  was  intended  to  take  the  place  of  two  or  three 
schools  similar  to  the  one  at  Cherry  Grove  and  make  of  all  one 
strong  college.  The  establishing  of  this  college,  together  with 
the  fact  that  there  were  at  the  time  two  colleges  in  Galesburg, 
two  in  Abingdon  and  one  or  two  in  Knoxville,  made  it  apparent 
that  there  was  no  longer  a  demand  for  Cherry  Grove  Seminary 
and  accordingly  in  1866,  the  school  was  closed. 

The  town  of  Abingdon  now  has  one  and  has  had  two 
schools  of  college  grade,  Abingdon  College  in  South  Abingdon 
which  is  in  Indian  Point  Township  and  Hedding  College  in 
North  Abingdon. 

In  1858,  Abingdon  College  received  its  charter.  It  had 
been  opened  as  an  academy  in  a  plain  wooden  building  two 
years  before  by  P.  H.  Murphy.  The  story  of  this  college,  for 
many  years  a  strong  and  influential  school,  belongs  to  Indian 
Point  Township. 

Hedding-  College 

Hedding  College  in  North  Abingdon  is  the  fulfillment  of 
a  prophecy  made  by  the  city's  founder,  Mr.  Swartz  Soon  after 
he  and  his  wife  came  to  live  in  their  log  cabin  near  where  the 
Abingdon  Cemetery  now  is,  the  story  goes  that  he  took  a  walk 
one  day  and  stopped  to  rest  on  a  little  knoll  of  rising  ground. 
As  they  stood  looking  around  them  at  the  wide  stretching 
prairie,  Mr.  Swartz  said  to  his  wife:  "We  shall  live  to  see  a 
village  here  and  where  we  stand  a  college  will  be  built."     On 


49 

the  ground  where  he  stood  when  he  uttered  those  words, 
Hedding  College  now  stands.  At  another  time,  he  said  to  a 
companion :  "Here  is  my  college  site.  I  do  not  expect  to  live  to 
see  it,  but  I  have  an  impression  that  some  day  there  will  be  a 
college  built  here."  Mr.  Swartz  died  in  1852.  In  the  division 
of  property,  the  present  site  of  the  college  fell  to  his  daughter 
Sarah,  who  afterward  married  Thomas  R.  Wilson.  They  gave 
five  acres  of  ground  and  $500  to  help  cany  out  the  plan  of  es- 
tablishing an  institution  of  learning.  Oregon  P.  and  Benjamin, 
sons  of  A.  D.  Swartz,  were  also  among  the  most  liberal  donors. 
The  school  was  first  opened  November  19,  1855,  and  held  its 
sessions  for  two  years  in  the  old  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
with  Rev.  N.  C  Lewis  as  principal.  It  was  called  Hedding 
Collegiate  Seminary  in  honor  of  Bishop  Hedding.  The  name 
was  suggested  by  J.  B.  F.  Chesney. 

The  first  building  was  erected  by  voluntary  subscriptions 
in  1856  and  '57.  September  16,  1857,  the  school  opened  in  its 
new  building.  On  February  9,  1857,  a  charter  had  been 
granted  and  the  name  changed  to  Hedding  Seminary  and  Cen- 
tral Illinois  Memale  College.  Ten  years  later,  the  first  class 
graduated  in  the  regular  Seminar>^  course.  In  1873  and  '74, 
the  large  main  building,  seventy-one  by  seventy  feet  and  three 
stories  high,  was  put  up  at  a  cost  of  $45,000.  In  1875,  the 
name  was  again  changed  to  Hedding  College  and  a  ne^^■  college 
charter  was  granted. 

The  college  is  under  the  patronage  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
pal  Church  Like  all  colleges.  Hedding  has  had  its  times  of 
special  prosperity  and  adversity.  Let  me  quote  from  its  last 
college  catalogue:  "The  decade  of  the  90'c  saw  the  beginning  of 
an  endowment  fund.  In  1903,  the  gymnasium  was  erected  and 
the  era  of  expansion  ushered  in.  The  endowment  campaign  of 
1908  and  '09  added  materially  to  the  resources  of  the  college, 
while  that  of  1911  and  1912  not  only  increased  the  fund,  but 
awakened  a  fine  spirit  of  enthusiasm  for  its  usefulness.  The 
campaign  begun  in  the  spring  of  1912,  was  carried  forward  for 
the  next  four  years,  coming  to  a  victorious  conclusion  on  De- 
cember 6,  1916.  At  midnight  of  this  date,  a  total  of  $350,000 
was  announced.  The  Board  of  Trustees  set  aside  $250,000  of 
this  amount  for  endowment  and  $100,000  for  indebtedness, 
buildings  and  equipment.  $10,000  have  been  invested  in  the 
purchase  of  books  for  the  Library,  equipment  for  the  labora- 
tories and  in  the  remodeling  of  the  basement  of  the  main  col- 
lege building,  and  $40,000  have  been  spent  in  remodeling  Old 
Main.  The  plant  is  now  modem  in  every  detail."  At  present, 
the  college  has  the  following  buildings :  Old  Main,  enlarged  and 
remodeled;  the  Gymnasium;  the  Nessie  Blodgett  Hall  for 
young  women  and  Novella  McHard  Home  for  boys;  besides 
owning  a  handsome  residence  for  the  home  of  the  president. 


50 

Nearly  four  hundred  names  are  on  its  alumni  roll,  including 
many  who  have  achieved  commercial  or  professional  success 
above  the  average.  Doctor  Walter  D.  Agnew  is  its  present 
efficient  and  beloved  president. 

Hedding  college  and  Cheriy  Grove  Seminary  are  the  only 
schools  of  higher  education  which  Cedar  Township  has  had, 
but  district  schools,  almost  all  of  them  begun  in  log  houses, 
were  erected  wherever  settlements  were  made.  There  are  to- 
day and  have  been  for  many  years,  schools  taught  in  the  Louis- 
ville, Brush  Creek,  Hunter,  Heller,  Warren,  Earle,  Cheriy 
Grove  and  Cross  Lanes  districts.  Professor  W.  F.  Boyes, 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools,  has  written  for  Mr.  Perry's 
County  History  a  fine  and  authoritative  article  upon  "The 
History  and  Development  of  the  County  Common  Schools." 
In  this  article  he  makes  mention  of  the  valuable  work  of 
Leanna  Hague,  who  was  closely  identified  with  educational 
interests  in  Cedar  Township  for  many  years.  Her  father,  with 
his  wife  and  two  little  children,  spent  the  winter  of  '51  and  '52 
in  the  Cherry  Grove  neighborhood,  where  he  had  come  in  Octo- 
ber from  Pennsylvania.  The  next  year,  he  moved  over  into 
Galesburg  township  where  he  lived  for  the  remainder  of  a  long 
life.  His  oldest  daughter,  Leanna,  after  graduating  from 
Waynesburg  College  in  Pennsylvania,  came  back  into  Cedar 
Township  and  for  fifteen  years  taught  school  in  the  newly 
erected  country  school  house  at  Cherry  Grove.  She  proved 
herself  a  rare  educator.  Thorough  and  enthusiastic  in  her 
work,  she  had  the  gift,  to  a  marked  degree,  of  inspiring  her 
pupils  with  great  loyalty  and  ambition.  Working  in  close  asso- 
ciation with  Mary  Allen  West,  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools  from  1873  to  1882,  she  did  valuable  service  to  the 
township  and  county  in  classifying  and  providing  graded 
courses  of  study  for  district  schools.  Her  own  school  was  re- 
peatedly the  banner  school  in  number  of  premiums  taken  for 
fine  work  shown  at  the  County  Fair.  For  several  successive 
years,  this  district  school  excelled  all  others  in  the  state,  in 
number  and  value  of  premiums  taken  for  superior  work  sho\/n 
at  the  State  Fair.  Leanna  Hague's  work  with  Cheriy  Grove 
School,  ceased  when  she  married  George  Dunlap  in  1883.  She 
is  living  today,  frail  in  body,  but  strong  in  mind  and  spirit,  in 
the  city  of  Galesburg. 

Churches 

In  the  history  of  the  township,  its  churches  have  had  an 
important  part.  The  organization  of  the  two  oldest  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned.  I  will  add  a  few  facts  about  these  be- 
fore telling  of  others. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Abingdon  was  organ- 
ized in  the  home  of  A.  D.  Swartz  in  1833,  three  years  before 


51 

the  town  of  Abingdon  was  laid  out,  with  the  following  mem- 
bers: Mr.  and  Mrs.  Swartz,  Mr  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Latimer,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Finch  and  Mrs.  Nanc}'  Latimer.  Two  years  later,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Joseph  Latimer  withdrew  to  help  organize  another 
church  of  their  own  denomination.  The  little  new  Methodist 
church  worshipped  for  sometime  in  private  houses.  In  1846, 
their  first  church  was  erected  in  Abingdon  on  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  Jefferson  streets.  This  building  was  used 
both  for  religious  worship  and  for  two  years  by  Hedding 
College  for  school  purposes.  When  the  first  college  building 
was  put  up  in  1857,  the  congregation  worshipped  in  its  chapel 
until  a  new  church  building  was  erected  in  1867.  This  build- 
ing, a  fine  one  for  its  day,  stood  for  thirty  years  on  the  corner 
of  Washington  and  Latimer  streets.  It  was  torn  down  to  giv^e 
place  to  the  present  well-appointed,  modern  church  building, 
which  was  completed  in  1898.  This  strong  church  has  always 
been  closely  identified  with  the  life  of  the  city  of  Abingdon. 

The  Congregational  Church  of  today  in  Abingdon  had  its 
origin  in  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  at  Cherry 
Grove  about  which  I  have  already  told  in  connection  with 
Cherry  Grove  Seminary.  For  its  history  and  in  explanation 
of  its  change  in  denominations,  I  quote  from  an  article  pre- 
pared at  the  time  of  the  dedication  of  the  present  Congrega- 
tional Church  building:  "At  the  present  time  when  the  new 
Congregational  Church  building  in  Abingdon  is  being  dedi- 
cated, it  seems  most  appropriate  that  there  should  be  given 
and  recorded  a  brief  history  of  the  congregation  that  wor- 
shipped in  the  old  church  home  and  is  now  entering  the  new 
one,  showing  a  continuous  and  connected  history  of  the  organ- 
ization that  took  its  start  more  than  80  years  ago,  and  thus  pre- 
serve in  permanent  form  some,  at  least,  of  the  more  important 
facts  connected  with  a  congregation  that  has  taken  an  import- 
ant part  in  shaping  the  religious  and  educational  life  of  this 
community  from  the  time  of  its  very  first  settlement.  Briefly, 
therefore,  we  find  that  between  1830  and  1835,  there  came 
hither  from  that  part  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  known  as 
the  Cumberland  country,  several  families  and  located  in  the 
vicinity  of  Abingdon,  mostly  to  the  north  of  what  is  known 
as  Cherry  Grove  neighborhood.  These  people  were  of  staunch 
Presbyterian,  Puritan  stock.  They  brought  with  them  letters 
from  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  On  June  20,  1835, 
these  families  by  appointment  met  at  the  home  of  Joseph  Lati- 
mer and  organized  the  Cherry  Grove  congregation  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  Rev.  James  H.  Stockton, 
a  minister  of  that  denomination,  was  present  and  after  preach- 
ing a  sermon,  acted  as  moderator,  and  conducted  the  service  of 
organization.  The  following  names  were  enrolled  as  members : 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Latimer,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Howard,  Miss 
Ellen  Howard,  Mrs.  Susan  P.  Coy,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geo.  G.  Lati- 


52 

mer,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Crawford,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexander 
Latimer  and  Mrs.  Nancy  Lomax 

This  was  the  first  church  that  built,  as  has  been  related, 
the  first  meeting  house  in  the  edge  of  the  timber  and  later 
worshipped  in  the  Cherry  Grove  Seminary  building.  I  resume 
the  quotation: 

"In  1866,  there  was  located  at  Lincoln,  Illinois,  a  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  College  for  the  state.  Cheriy  Grove  was  a 
competitor  for  this  college  but  falling  to  secure  it,  the  church 
decided  to  abandon  the  school  and  build  a  church  house  in  Ab- 
ingdon. Thus,  after  a  career  of  marked  usefulness  for  nearly 
thirty  years,  was  the  dual  work  of  this  congregation  aban- 
doned. 

"In  the  fall  and  winter  of  1866,  the  church  building  in 
Abingdon  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Pearl  streets  was 
erected  and  in  February  of  1867,  it  was  dedicated  and  occupied. 
At  that  time  it  was  the  most  commodious  church  building  in 
Abingdon.  Rev.  J.  R.  Brown,  D.  D.,  was  then  the  popular  and 
well  beloved  pastor.  After  a  period  of  fourteen  years,  during 
which  time  every  department  of  the  church  work  was  main- 
tained without  an  interruption,  the  congregation  decided  to 
change  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Congregational  Church.  In 
1881,  by  a  vote  of  the  congregation,  they  changed  their  fellow- 
ship in  a  body  from  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  to 
that  of  the  Congregational  Church.  This  action  was  taken 
without  any  change  in  belief,  they  then  and  now  retaining  the 
same  articles  of  faith  as  formerly.  It  was  done  for  the  sake  of 
closer  fellowship  with  the  churches  in  the  nearer  vicinity  and 
because  of  the  then  existing  prejudice  between  the  North  and 
South  growing  out  of  the  recent  rebellion.  The  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  in  the  South  and  had  its 
membership  largely  there.  Its  name,  too,  tended  to  localize  it 
there-  Because  of  this  prejudice,  the  church  felt  that  its  use- 
fulness was  being  hindered.  Rev.  James  M.  Campbell,  D.  D., 
was  the  last  pastor  before  this  change  was  made  and  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Clerk,  was  the  first  after  the  change."  The  present  com- 
modious and  modern  Congregational  church  building  was  com- 
pleted and  occupied  in  1917. 

A  Protestant  Methodist  Church  was  started  in  Abingdon 
about  1838.  They  at  first  worshipped  in  a  small  frame  build- 
ing on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Latimer  streets.  In  '46,  or  near 
that  time,  they  put  up  a  church  building  on  Jackson  street  a 
little  west  of  where  the  C.  B.  and  Q.  railroad  tracks  now  are. 
Later,  about  1868,  they  built  a  commodious  and  substantial 
church  home  that  stood  on  the  corner  of  Jefferson  and  Jack- 
son streets.  For  a  while  they  were  a  flourishing  church. 
After  some  years  the  church  organization  was  abandoned. 


53 

In  this  Protestant  Methodist  church  building  in  1879  a  con- 
gregation was  organized  known  as  the  Jefferson  Street  Chris- 
tian Church.  After  worshipping  here  for  a  time,  they  pur- 
chased the  old  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  building  on  the 
corner  of  Washington  and  Jefferson  streets.  They  refurnished 
it  and  worshipped  there  until  1884,  when  this  church  reunited 
with  the  Christian  Church  then  worshipping  in  the  chapel  of 
the  old  Abingdon  College  building 

The  present  Christian  Church  of  Abingdon,  so  long  con- 
nected with  Abingdon  College,  was  founded  in  1840  by  Hiram 
Smith  and  Richard  Johnston.  It  is  another  strong  church 
closely  connected  with  the  life  of  the  city,  but  its  histoiy  be- 
longs to  Indian  Point  Township  in  which  township  it  is  located. 

About  1858,  a  Congregational  Church  was  organized  in 
Abingdon.  Among  those  who  started  this  church  were  Isaac 
Hunter,  Thomas  Marsh,  Thomas  Andrews,  Thaddeus  Merrill, 
Wm.  Hughey  and  their  families.  They  bought  a  lot  and  put  up 
a  building  on  the  west  side  of  Main  street  opposite  the  present 
city  park.  Here  they  worshipped  for  ten  years,  or  until  1868, 
when  the  church  was  desbanded.  Each  member  of  the  church 
was  given  a  letter  of  dismissal  and  recommendation  to  any 
church  he  or  she  might  wish  to  unite  with. 

In  1910,  a  Universalist  Church  was  organized  in  Abing- 
don which  is  doing  service  at  the  present  time. 

There  have  been  several  influential  country  churches  in 
the  township.  About  1838,  both  the  Methodist  Eposcopal  and 
the  Methodist  Protestant  people  organized  each  a  church. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  organization  occurred  in  the  village 
of  Louisville ;  the  Methodist  Protestant  a  mile  north  of  it. 
Both  congregations  worshipped  for  a  time  in  private  houses. 
In  1841,  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  building  was  erected  on 
the  public  square  of  Louisville.  Mr.  Stephens  thus  describes 
it:  'Tt  was  built  by  Reuben  Castle  in  1842  and  he  received  for 
the  labor  and  the  material  which  he  put  into  it,  $150.00.  Every 
piece  of  dimension  stuff  that  was  in  the  building  was  hewn  out 
of  oak.  The  structure  was  exceedingly  well  built  and  thor- 
oughly pinned  together  with  wooden  pins.  It  stood  on  blocks 
that  raised  the  building  quite  high  from  the  ground  so  that  the 
sheep  that  were  running  at  large,  used  to  go  under  the  building 
and  stay  there  during  their  resting  time  and  in  the  hottest  part 
of  the  day  "  In  1878,  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  Kinney, 
the  little  church  known  as  WaiTen  Chapel  was  built,  at  which 
time  the  Louisville  church  was  abandoned  as  a  house  of  wor- 
ship. It  was  given  to  Rev.  R.  Kinney  and  he  occupied  it  about 
five  years  as  a  residence.  Then  J.  W.  Stephens  purchased  the 
ground  and  the  church  which  stood  upon  it."  The  Warren 
Chapel  Methodist  Episcopal  church  did  good  service  for  a  long 


54 

time.  The  building  now  stands  unused,  the  organization  having 
been  given  up. 

The  Methodist  Protestant  church  was  built  soon  after 
the  Methodist  Episcopal,  near  where  Pleas  Marks  now  lives. 
Their  first  building  was,  in  process  of  time,  replaced  by  a 
larger  and  more  imposing  structure.  This,  however,  because 
of  so  many  deaths  and  removals  was  abandoned  long  ago,  and 
in  1894,  the  building  was  sold  and  torn  down. 

Sunday  Schools  were  kept  up  more  or  less  regularly  for 
some  years  at  Warren  Chapel,  Louisville,  and  in  the  Brush 
Creek,  Hunter  and  Earle  School  Houses.  No  school  house  Sun- 
day Schools  are  held  regularly  so  far  as  is  known  at  the  present 
time  and  out  of  all  these  churches,  there  are  only  three  in  the 
township  today,  the  Abingdon  Methodist  Episcopal,  Congrega- 
tional and  Universalist. 

Towns  and  Industries 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Galesburg,  Abingdon  and 
Louisville  were  laid  out  as  towns  in  the  same  year — 1836. 
Abingdon  was  laid  out  by  A.  D.  Swartz,  Louisville  by  John  S. 
Garrett. 

On  the  map  of  Cedar  Township  in  the  1870  '*Atlas  Map  of 
Knox  County,"  the  plat  of  the  town  of  Louisville,  on  Section  16, 
is  shown.  Louisville  never  grew  to  be  more  than  a  village  but 
had  several  good-sized  hewed  log  houses,  a  post  office,  a  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church  and  a  store  started  by  Alexander  Ewing 
of  Knoxville  The  post  office  was  at  first  called  "Farmers' 
Hall."  The  mail  was  carried  by  a  hired  conveyance  from 
Macomb  to  Galesburg.  Thus,  both  Abingdon  and  Louisville 
were  on  this  mail  route.  The  mail  was  all  carried  in  one  bag, 
the  postman  stopping  at  each  town  on  the  way  and  sorting  out 
the  mail  for  that  town. 

When,  in  1853,  a  township  organization  was  perfected,  the 
first  township  election  was  held  in  Louisville  with  Hugh  A. 
Kelly  as  moderator  and  Lorentus  W.  Conger  clerk.  The  result 
of  this  first  township  election  was  as  follows:  E.  P.  Dunlap, 
Supervisor ;  William  Marks,  Clerk ;  William  Lang,  Assessor ; 
James  W.  Smoot,  Collector;  J.  W.  Stephens  and  W.  H.  Heller, 
Commissioners  of  Highways ;  P.  M.  Shoop  and  Joseph  Harvey 
Justices  of  Peace ;  Thomas  S.  Bassett,  Overseer  of  the  Poor ; 
Solomon  Stegall  and  Eli  Butler,  Constables.  The  election  of 
the  following  year  was  also  held  at  Louisville  but  ever  since,  it 
has  been  held  at  Abingdon  No  trace  of  the  village  of  Louis- 
ville is  left  today,  but  the  Louisville  District  School  House 
stands  near  the  original  site. 

Abingdon,  beautifully  located  on  high  rolling  ground  in 


55 

the  southwest  quarter  of  Section  33,  as  originally  laid  out  by 
Mr.  Swartz,  comprised  sixteen  blocks.  In  1849,  the  Frederick 
Snyder  addition,  just  over  the  line  in  Indian  Point  Township, 
was  added.  It  was  long  known  as  South  Abingdon.  There 
have  been  a  number  of  later  additions.  The  town  was  named 
after  the  city  of  Abingdon,  Maryland,  the  birthplace  of  Mr. 
Swartz.  From  the  fuller  accounts  of  Abingdon  as  written  up 
in  the  various  Knox  County  histories  and  from  old  residents, 
I  have  culled  a  few  facts.  The  first  residence,  a  one-room, 
log  house,  was  erected  on  Main  street  by  A.  M.  Curry.  He 
and  John  Green  built  a  log  store  near  the  dwelling  and  received 
a  license  to  sell  goods  in  1837.  Alonzo  Reece,  a  brother  of  Dr. 
Reece,  who  was  so  long  and  closely  identified  with  Abingdon 
life,  was  the  first  child  bom  in  the  town.  Where  the  Globe 
Factory  now  stands,  the  first  hotel  was  erected.  It  was  run 
by  Captain  Thomas  Ellison.  Before  this,  in  1836,  the  very 
year  the  town  was  started,  we  are  told  there  was  a  tavern  kept 
in  a  double  log  house  by  a  certain  John  Evans.  Here  both 
man  and  beast  could  find  accommodations.  The  first  school, 
taught  by  a  Mr  Mcintosh  in  1838,  was  held  in  a  small  frame 
building  which  stood  just  north  of  where  the  Globe  Factory 
now  stands.  In  1855,  the  population  of  Abingdon  was  only 
about  five  hundred.  The  founding  of  its  colleges  about  that 
time,  an  account  of  which  has  already  been  given,  gave  great 
impetus  to  the  growth  of  the  town.  In  1867,  a  large  brick 
graded  school  building  was  built.  At  present,  Abingdon  has 
two  graded  schools  and  has  a  fine  new  high  school  building  in 
process  of  erection. 

Abingdon  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1845.  In  1857, 
north  and  south  Abingdon  united  and  were  incorporated  as  a 
city  by  a  special  act  of  legislature.  The  first  officers  were: 
W.  H.  Gillaspie,  Mayor;  C.  C.  Lewis,  Sidney  Owens,  Jesse  Per- 
due and  George  Inness,  Aldermen ;  C.  L.  Summers,  Clerk ; 
Jesse  Burr,  Assessor;  Andrew  Bradbury,  Collector;  W.  H.  Gil- 
laspie, Treasurer  and  W.  Merrick,  Marshal.  In  accordance  with 
the  terms  stipulated  in  its  original  charter,  no  intoxicating  li- 
quor has  ever  been  legally  sold  within  the  boundaries.  The 
store  kept  by  Jonathan  Latimer,  later  known  as  Latimer  and 
Meeks,  is  noteworthy  because  it  demonstrates  the  fact  that  a 
department  store  flourished  in  the  forties  and  fifties  even  if 
not  so  well  organized  or  extensively  housed  as  those  of  the 
present  time.  Perry's  History  of  Knox  County  says  of  this 
store:  "Under  one  roof  were  employed  a  shoe-maker,  a  tailor 
and  a  milliner  This  store  kept  dry  goods,  groceries,  boots  and 
shoes,  hardware,  meats  cured  by  themselves  and  a  small  var- 
iety of  drugs.  They  also  bought  and  sold  cattle,  hogs,  sheep 
and  all  the  products  of  the  farm.  There  were  two  ways  in 
which  they  disposed  of  hogs  of  which  they  often  owned  sev- 
eral thousand  taken  in  exchange  for  goods  sold  during  the 


56 

year.  They  would  either  slaughter  them  on  the  farm  and  haul 
their  carcasses  to  Copperas  Landing  on  the  Illinois  River,  or 
they  would  drive  them  on  foot  to  the  same  shipping  point. 
Sometimes,  the  meat  that  was  slaughtered  would  be  packed  in 
barrels,  salted  and  shipped  in  this  way.  Generally,  the  return 
wagons  would  be  loaded  with  goods  to  be  again  traded  to  the 
farmers  for  their  farm  products."  Copperas  Landing  was  the 
center  of  this  shipping  trade  as  it  furnished  water  facilities  to 
St.  Louis  and  other  cities. 

There  are  two  prosperous  banks  in  Abingdon  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  the  First  National,  known  as  the  People's  Bank,  or- 
ganized in  1879  by  M.  C.  Bates,  J.  B.  McKay  and  M.  C.  Kimball, 
and  the  State  Bank,  organized  in  1902  by  John  Mosser  and 
sons,  James  Cox,  J.  W.  Hunter,  Henry  Simmons,  and  Joseph 
Main. 

Abingdon  is  justly  proud  of  its  manufacturing  interests. 
They  began  back  in  the  forties  and  fifties  with  certain  hand- 
manufactured  articles.  J.  B.  F.  Chesney  manufactured  plows 
which  were  celebrated  throughout  this  section  of  the  country. 
Also,  Jonathan  Latimer  built  carriages  and  buggies  in  the  early 
days     Boots  and  shoes  were  made  by  Henry  Frey. 

The  following  statistics  for  1918,  have  been  given  me  by 
the  city  officials.  At  present,  Abingdon  has  sixteen  factories 
with  an  annual  pay  roll  of  approximately  $500,000  and  num- 
bering some  eight  hundred  or  more  employees.  The  annual 
production  is  approximately  $2,000,000.  The  largest  of  the 
manufacturing  concerns  are  the  Globe  Shirt  and  Overall  Com- 
pany, Abingdon  Wagon  Company,  Abingdon  Sanitary'  Manu- 
facturing Company  and  the  American  Sanitary  Manufactur- 
ing Company.  In  a  factory  way  Abingdon  has  the  largest  pro- 
duction per  capita  in  normal  times,  of  any  city,  town  or  village 
in  the  State  of  Illinois.  Today,  1918,  her  large  factories  are  all 
employed  in  producing  war  materials.  Abingdon  is  a  city  of 
homes,  factories  and  schools.  Her  present  population  is  three 
thousand. 

Outside  of  Abingdon,  farming  and  cattle  raising  have  al- 
ways been  the  main  pursuits  of  Cedar  Township  people.  There 
is  a  very  small  proportion  of  poor  land  in  the  township  and  its 
farms  have  reached  a  high  degree  of  cultivation.  Anyone  rid-' 
ing  over  the  township  as  I  have  done  in  search  of  material  for 
this  paper,  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  rich  productive 
beauty  of  its  farm  land.  In  the  business  of  stock  raising, 
Cedar  Township  has  ranked  with  the  veiy  best,  and  still  ranks 
high.  Perry's  County  History  says  of  this  industry  in  the 
Township:  "Some  as  fine  stock  has  been  raised  there  as  could 
be  found  upon  the  market.  Large  herds  of  Shorthorn,  Here- 
ford, Galloway,  Angus,  Holstein  and  Jersey  cattle  have  been 
bred  in  the  township." 


57 

The  Quincy  Branch  of  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  Railroad  passes 
throughout  the  length  of  Cedar  Township,  At  the  time  of  its 
building,  the  two  ends  building  toward  each  other,  the  one  from 
Quincy,  the  other  from  Chicago,  met  just  south  of  Abingdon 
and  formed  a  completed  line.  A  Cedar  Township  man,  Jona- 
than Latimer,  took  the  contract  for  furnishing  the  ties  for 
what  is  now  the  Quincy  Branch  of  this  railroad  and  for  furn- 
ishing a  large  amount  of  corded  wood  to  be  used  as  engine 
fuel.    Wood  was  the  only  fuel  used  at  first  in  railroad  engines. 

Some  Noteworthy  Emigrations 

Cedar  Township  has  sent  many  of  its  sons  and  daughters 
to  be  pioneers  in  other  states.  I  will  mention  three  instances 
involving  more  than  usual  experiences. 

When  the  memorable  little  company  of  "Forty-Niners," 
known  as  the  Jay  hawkers  started  from  Knox  County  April  1, 
1849,  in  quest  of  California  gold.  Cedar  Township  furnished 
one  of  the  men,  Lorenzo  Dow  Stephens,  a  brother  of  J.  W. 
Stephens.  The  Jayhawkers,  thirty-nine  in  number  in  seeking 
a  short  cut  to  California,  left  the  Los  Angeles  Trail  and  enter- 
ing through  a  ravine  "struck  out  bodly,  at  first,  into  the  gi'eat 
American  desert."  They  wandered  for  weeks  in  the  desert, 
including  that  awful  desolation  of  Death's  Valley,  which  they 
discovered  and  which  was  never  crossed  before  by  a  white  man. 
Three  perished  there  and  the  rest,  having  been  fifty-two  days 
with  almost  no  food  and  suffering  terribly  for  lack  of  water 
in  the  sandy  valleys  of  salt  and  alkali,  came  out  at  last,  little 
more  than  living  skeletons  at  a  hospitable  cattle  ranch  near 
the  head  waters  of  the  Santa  Clara  River  in  Ventura  County, 
Southern  California.  Of  this  company,  only  two  are  living  to- 
day, Lorenza  Dow  Stephens  of  San  Jose,  California,  and  John 
B.  Colton  of  Galesburg,  Illinois. 

In  the  very  early  days  of  Minnesota,  a  young  couple  went 
from  Cedar  Township  to  be  missionaries  among  the  Indians. 
These  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Amos  Huggins.  ]\Ir.  Huggins  was  for 
a  while  a  student  in  Knox  College  and  his  wife  was  Sophia 
Marsh,  oldest  sister  of  Leroy  Marsh.  It  was  a  time  of  much 
hostility  among  the  Indians.  After  a  few  years  residence 
there,  Mr.  Huggins  stepped  out  of  his  house  one  evening  into 
the  yard  on  some  errand.  The  light,  streaming  out  of  the  open 
doorway,  made  him  a  fine  target,  a  shot  rang  out  and  he  fell, 
the  victim  of  a  hostile  Indian's  bullet  His  wife  and  baby  were 
held  as  captilves  by  the  Indians  for  six  weeks  and  carried  100 
miles  farther  north  before  they  were  rescued  by  some  govern- 
ment troops.  Mrs.  Huggins  is  still  living  in  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri. 

A  little  company  from  Cedar  Township  became  pioneers 
in  the  far  west  and  the  founders  of  a  great  city.     Mentioned 


58 

among  the  first  to  settle  in  the  township,  in  1831,  was  Mrs. 
Sarah  Boren,  the  widowed  daughter  of  Joseph  Latimer.  Mrs. 
Boren  hved  on  the  land  adjoining  her  father's  until  her  one 
son  had  grown  to  manhood  and  her  two  daughters  were  young 
women.  The  older  of  the  daughters,  Mary,  married  Arthur  A. 
Denny,  who  was  County  Sur\'eyor  in  Knox  County,  from  1848 
to  1851.  Soon  after  this  marriage,  the  parents  of  the  bride 
and  gi'oom,  Mrs.  Sarah  Latimer  Boren,  the  mother  of  Marj- 
Boren  Denney,  and  John  Denny,  the  father  of  Arthur  A. 
Denny,  were  married.  John  Denny,  who  had  been  a  volunteer 
in  the  war  of  1812  and  had  served  in  the  legislature  where  he 
was  associated  with  Lincoln,  Baker,  Yates  and  Trumbull,  with 
his  five  sons  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Latimer  Boren  Denny  with  her 
sons  and  two  daughters,  became  enthused  with  the  idea  of 
settling  on  the  far  Pacific  coast.  They  had  known  pioneer 
days  in  Illinois  and  had  the  true  pioneer  spirit.  On  April  10, 
1851,  just  two  years  after  the  Jayhawkers  left  Knox  County, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Denny  with  their  gi-own-up  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, children  and  grandchildren,  began  the  great  journey 
across  the  plains.  They  started  that  April  morning,  from  the 
family  home  at  Cherry  Grove  in  four  "prairie  schooners"  as 
the  canvas  covered  wagons  were  called,  three  of  them  drawn 
by  four-horse  teams,  one  by  a  single  span ;  they  took  also  a 
few  saddle  horses  and  two  faithful  watch  dogs,  that  proved 
of  great  value  in  traveling  in  the  wilds  Their  long  toilsome 
journey,  full  of  incidents  and  adventures,  was  ended  when,  in 
the  fall,  they  reached  Puget  Sound  and  Eliott  Bay.  They 
camped  temporarily  for  the  winter  and  in  Februarv'  of  '52,  less 
than  a  year  after  leaving  Cedar  Township,  Arthur  Denny, 
having  made  soundings  of  the  bay  and  determined  where  the 
city  of  his  dreams  should  be  located,  used  the  experience  gained 
as  surveyor  in  Knox  County,  in  surveying  and  laying  out  claims 
where  was  to  be  the  city  of  Seattle.  He,  with  his  brother, 
David,  and  two  or  three  other  men,  were  the  first  to  occupy 
claims  and  start  business  interests  in  that  city.  They  lived  to 
achieve  great  wealth  and  many  of  their  descendants  reside  in 
Seattle  today. 

War  Record 

Cedar  Township  is  justly  proud  of  its  war  record.  All 
through  the  Forties  and  Fifties,  its  inhabitants  were  wide- 
awake to  war  issues.  These  issues  were  ardently  discussed  in 
the  Upsilon  Society  of  Cherry  Grove  Seminary-  and  in  the 
college  debating  socities  in  Abingdon  and  were  often  hotly  dis- 
puted in  gatherings  of  the  men.  When  Lincoln  and  Douglas 
spoke  in  Galesburg,  wagon  loads  went  from  Cedar  Township 
to  hear  them  Among  the  Township's  strong  Abolitionists  was 
Abel  T'^omas,  already  mentioned  in  this  history  as  one  of  the 
early  settlers.     He  lived  in  the  countrv   east  and   north   of 


59 

Louisville  and  was  a  zealous  pilot  in  the  Underground  Rail- 
way traffic.  Mounted  on  a  fence  post,  where  the  lane  leading 
to  his  house  turned  off  from  the  main  road,  he  always  kept 
the  skull  of  a  cow  or  of  some  other  animal.  This  was  a  sign 
which  meant  to  those  helping  runaway  slaves,  that  here  they 
would  find  a  friend. 

When  the  call  to  arms  came,  the  Township  responded 
quickly  and  loyally,  with  its  full  quota,  probably  more,  of  men. 
The  strong  loyalty  everywhere  manifested  before  and  during 
the  Civil  War  is  noteworthy  because  such  a  large  proportion 
of  those  who  had  been  shaping  the  opinions  of  the  different 
communities  for  the  thirty  years  preceding  the  war,  grew  up 
in  homes  where  the  passing  generation  had  come  from  semi- 
southern  states  and  some  of  whom  had  slave-owning  relatives. 
Exact  statistics  are  almost  impossible  to  obtain.  In  the  Knox 
County  list  of  Civil  War  volunteers,  three  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-two names  from  Abingdon  and  Cedar  Township  appear. 
Some  of  these  men  merely  enlisted  from  Abingdon  and  were 
not  Cedar  Township  people.  The  Township  can  undoubtedly 
claim  three  hundred  volunteers  and  probably  sent  more.  All 
who  went  from  the  Township  were  volunteers.  There  were  no 
drafted  men  from  Cedar. 

While  the  men  were  seizing  on  the  battle  field,  the 
women  were  doing  all  they  could  to  furnish  needed  lint,  band- 
ages and  supplies.  Nowhere  was  there  sincerer  mourning 
when  the  bells  announced  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

In  1897,  Company  D  of  the  Illinois  National  Guards  was 
organized  in  Abingdon.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish  War 
in  the  spring  of  '98,  members  of  Company  D  volunteered  and 
were  mustered  in  with  the  rest  of  the  regiment  foiTnin?  the 
Sixth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantiy,  which  sensed  through  the 
war  and  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  November 
25,  1898. 

A  very  large  number  of  Cedar  Township  men  are  serving 
at  the  present  time  in  the  various  departments  of  service  in 
the  great  allied  war  against  Germany.  Perry's  Histoiy  says 
of  the  Township:  "Cedar  has  always  maintained  a  high  de2ri*ee 
of  patriotism.  Of  the  old  settlers,  there  are  seventeen  soldiers 
of  the  war  of  1812,  four  of  the  early  Indian  wars  and  two  of 
the  Mexican  war,  found  in  its  cemeteries-  Forty-nine  soldiers 
of  the  Civil  War  are  also  buried  within  the  Township  limit>." 
Since  these  statistics  were  given,  in  1912,  a  very  large  number 
of  Civil  War  soldiers  have  been  added  to  those  alreadv  buried 
in  the  Township. 

The  men  and  women  who  had  to  do  with  the  settlement 
of  Cedar  Township  and  with  the  shaping  of  its  early  life  are 
almost  all  resting  now  and  their  voices  are  silent.    It  is  fitting 


60 

that  we  who  come  after,  not  so  far  removed  in  time  but  that 
we  have  often  heard  rehearsed  the  stories  of  pioneer  days, 
should  pass  on  to  coming  generations  the  annals  of  those  times. 
Admiring,  honoring,  loving  those  who  have  wrought  for 
us,  to  us  in  these  days,  comes  the  message  Emerson  voices :  "I 
have  no  expectation  any  man  will  read  history  aright,  who 
thinks  that  what  was  done  in  a  remote  age,  by  men  whose 
names  have  resounded  far,  has  any  deeper  sense  than  what  he 
is  doing  today." 


LIBERTY  LOAN  RECORD 

Owing  to  the  omission  of  a  line  which  makes  the  mean- 
ing obscure,  the  following  showing  the  Liberty  Loan  Record 
of  the  county  in  the  late  war  is  republished : 

The  county  by  its  response  to  the  call  of  the  government 
for  funds  also  gave  its  soldiers  the  most  substantial  back- 
ing. This  is  indicated  by  the  following  tables  showing  the 
total  contributions  to  each  of  the  four  Liberty  Loans  and  the 
Victory  Loan: 

Amt. 

Quota  Raised       Contributors 

First   $    923,180  $    659,600  Not  Known 

Second    1,288,030  1,698,250  7,000 

Third    1,256,640  2,229,600  10,557 

Fourth    2,506,900  2,659,900  14,326 

Victory 1,958,450  2,367,050       6,980 


Totals___$7,933,200     $9,614,400 
The  county  far  exceeded  the  total  quota. 


61 


CHESTNUT  TOWNSHIP 
From  Sketch  by  H.  M.  Reece 

The  following  interesting  notes  on  Chestnut  Township  are 
from  a  sketch  by  H.  M.  Reece  in  1899 : 

The  earliest  settler  of  Chestnut  Township  was  Anson 
Dolph,  who  came  from  Kentucky  in  1833.  He  raised  a  crop 
of  wheat  that  year  on  Section  17,  and  in  1834,  came  as  a  per- 
manent settler.  In  the  year  last  named  came  also  John  Terry, 
from  Virginia,  who  settled  on  Section  16,  and  became  the  first 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  having  per- 
formed the  first  marriage  ceremony  in  the  township,  the  con- 
tracting parties  being  a  Mr.  Gay  and  a  Miss  Cope,  whose  wish 
for  a  legal  union  was  sufficiently  strong  to  induce  them  to 
ride  a  long  distance  on  a  single  horse.  Those  early  marriages 
often  presented  romantic  features  wholly  lacking  in  the  fash- 
-ionable  weddings  of  these  days  of  purer  refinement  and  higher 
civilization.  To  illustrate:  One  of  the  marriages  solemnized 
by  'Squire  Terry  was  that  of  a  couple  who  stood  on  one  bank  of 
the  Spoon  River,  while  he  pronounced  the  fateful  words  on  the 
other,  the  stream  being  too  swollen  to  permit  either  party  to 
cross  to  the  opposite  bank.  Mr  Terry  afterward  engaged  in 
trade,  and  amassed  what  in  those  days  was  regarded  as  an  in- 
dependent fortune. 

In  1836,  Robert  Leigh  and  Archibald  Long  came  from 
Ohio  and  settled  on  Section  33,  where  Mr.  Leigh  remained 
until  his  death.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  commenced  raising 
hemp,  and,  there  being  no  market  for  the  raw  product,  he  con- 
structed a  factory  of  a  rude  description,  where  he  manufac- 
tured his  own  and  his  neighbors'  hemp  crops  into  rope.  For  a 
time  the  industry  proved  very  profitable,  and  he,  too,  amassed 
a  comfortable  fortune.  Mr.  Long,  soon  after  settling  on  Sec- 
tion 33,  removed  to  Section  19,  where,  in  1842,  he  platted  the 
village  of  Hermon. 

He  was  a  local  Methodist  preacher,  and  soon  after  his 
arrival  at  his  new  home  he  organized  a  Methodist  class,  which 
met  regularly  at  his  house  for  many  years.  The  last  of  this 
devoted  band  was  Mrs.  Sally  Shafer. 

Among  the  early  settlers  should  be  also  mentioned  0.  P. 
Barton.  He  was  famous  in  those  times  as  a  pedestrian,  and 
gave  repeated  evidence  of  his  prowess  and  power  of  endurance 
in  this  description  of  exercise.  Once,  starting  on  foot  at  the 
same  time  with  several  horsemen  for  the  land  office  at  Quincy, 
one  hundred  miles  distant,  he  out-stripped  them  all,  securing 
the  prize  offered  to  the  winner  of  the  race  which  consisted  of 


62 

forty  acres  of  government  land  in  Section  17.    Another  pioneer 
was  Harmon  Way,  who  was  famous  as  a  marksman  and  hunter. 

The  first  house  was  built  of  logs  by  Mr.  Dolph  on  Section 
17,  in  1833.  The  first  brick  house  was  that  of  Robert  Leigh, 
erected  about  1845  The  first  road  was  the  old  State  road, 
from  Peoria  to  Oquawka,  which  ran  diagonally  through  the 
township  from  southeast  to  northwest.  Its  course,  however, 
has  been  since  changed,  so  that  it  now  follows  section  lines. 
The  first  bridge  was  built  about  1846,  at  the  point  where  the 
old  road  crosses  Spoon  River.  It  was  a  very  cumbersome, 
wooden  affair,  which  was  carried  away  and  demolished  bv  a 
flood  in  1855. 

The  first  birth  was  a  daughter  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shaver,  in 
1835.    The  first  death  was  that  of  Jacob  Hartford,  in  1836. 

The  first  graveyard  was  on  Section  33,  and  was  estab- 
lished by  Robert  Leigh,  soon  after  he  settled  on  the  section. 
It  is  not  now  used  as  a  burial  spot,  though  the  few  graves  there 
are  well  cared  for  by  his  son  Benjamin,  who  is  a  prominent 
citizen  of  the  township.  Two  other  cemeteries  have  been  laid 
out,  as  follows :  One  on  Section  19,  near  the  Methodist  Church, 
by  Archibald  Long,  which  has  been  several  times  enlarged,  the 
other  inl863,  by  the  trustees  of  the  Christian  church,  near 
their  house  of  worship  on  Section  18. 

The  first  school  house,  after  the  fashion  of  those  early 
days,  was  built  of  logs,  and  was  exceedingly  rude  as  regarded 
both  its  exterior  and  interior.  It  was  put  up  in  1836,  and  some 
years  afterward  was  replaced  by  a  frame  building  which,  after 
undergoing  many  alterations,  is  still  used  as  the  school  house 
of  District  No.  3.  Two  years  later  (1838)  the  second  school 
house,  likewise  of  logs,  was  built  on  Section  28.  It  disappeared 
long  ago,  and  the  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  Church  of  the 
United  Brethren.  The  first  school  teacher  to  exercise  his  voca- 
tion was  Mr.  Haskins,  who  taught  in  what  is  now  District  No, 
3.  At  present,  1899,  the  township  has  eight  schools,  none  of 
them  graded,  occupying  buildings  valued  at  six  thousand,  five 
hundred  dollars  The  aggregate  attendance  is  two  hundred  and 
forty-three,  out  of  a  total  population  of  three  hundred  and 
eighty-six  minors. 

The  first  mill  was  built  by  Mr.  Howard  on  Haw  Creek 
about  1845.  It  was  designed  both  for  sawing  lumber  and 
grinding  corn,  but  was  used  only  a  few  years  and  has  long 
since  been  only  a  memory.  There  was  also  a  saw  mill  on  Lit- 
ler's  Creek,  on  Section  25,  about  the  same  time,  which  has 
shared  the  same  fate.  Early  in  the  forties,  Mr.  Parker  manu- 
factured brick  on  Section  23,  for  several  years. 

The  first  store  was  kept  by  John  Terry  on  Section  16,  and 


63 

its  stock  was  very  limited.  A  Mr.  Moor  early  established  an- 
other on  Section  15,  but  it  proved  unsuccessful  and  he  soon 
abandoned  the  enterprise. 

One  of  the  earliest  taverns  was  kept  by  Jonathan  Potts,  on 
Section  22,  on  the  old  State  road.  The  first  physician  was 
Dr.  Porter,  who  came  in  1838  and  remained  but  a  short  time. 
He  was  succeeded  Dr.  Morris,  and  he,  in  turn,  by  Dr.  Wilson. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  township  were  compelled  to  de- 
pend on  Troy,  in  Fulton  County,  and  on  Knoxville,  then  the 
county  seat,  for  postal  facilities,  but  in  1848  a  post  office  was 
established  at  Hermon,  the  mail  being  brought  from  Knox- 
ville once  a  week.    The  first  postmaster  was  a  Mr.  Massie. 

The  township  was  organized  at  a  meeting  held  in  1857,  by 
the  choice  of  the  following  officials :  Samuel  Collins,  Super- 
visor ;  John  Terry  and  David  Massie,  Justices  of  the  Peace ;  Mr 
McCoy,  Clerk ;  William  Graves  and  Freeman  West,  Constables ; 
Robert  Benson,  Collector;  and  Owen  Betterton,  Assessor. 

Justices  of  the  Peace  since  the  first  elected  have  been 
Owen  Betterton,  Hiram  Culver,  Walter  Bond,  Samuel  Jamison, 
Henry  Bond,  George  Haver,  Marion  Dyer,  T.  J.  Routh,  Clay- 
ton Trumbeel,  J.  W.  Ogden  and  John  E.  Davis  and  Lee  Lucas, 
the  present  dispensers  of  justice,  (1899),  for  the  township. 

There  is  but  one  village  in  Chestnut,  originally  called 
Harrisonville,  but  now  known  as  Hermon.  A  village  was  laid 
out  in  Section  23,  in  1852,  by  Andrew  J.  Parker.  It  was  situ- 
ated on  the  right  bank  of  the  Spoon,  near  where  the  present 
bridge  crosses  that  stream.  It  never  grew,  and  the  plat  was 
vacated  by  the  legislature  in  1869. 

The  Christian  Church  in  the  township  was  organized  in 
1854,  by  Revs.  John  Miller  and  Gaston.  The  Church  of  the 
United  Brethren  was  organized  in  1859,  and  the  denomination 
has  a  well-built  edifice,  on  Section  28. 

The  Methodist  church  was  first  organized  by  Archibald 
Long,  an  early  settler  and  local  preacher.  Through  his  efforts 
a  modist  church  building  was  erected  in  1842.  The  Baptist 
Society  was  organized  early  in  the  forties  by  Elders  A.  Gogorth 
and  C.  Humphrey- 

The  township  furnished  its  quotas  to  the  Civil  War  and 
to  the  wars  since  then.  It's  citizens  have  had  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  affairs  of  the  county. 


64 


COPLEY  TOWNSHIP 
From  Sketches  by  J.  W.  Temple 

The  surface  of  Copley  Township,  so  named  from  a  prom- 
inent family  of  that  name  at  one  time  residing  in  it,  consists 
chiefly  of  fertile  prairie  land,  just  sufficiently  rolling  to  ensure 
good  drainage,  though  in  its  southern  part  there  is  some  broken 
ground,  probably  one-fourth  of  its  area  having  been  originally 
timber  land. 

The  first  settler  in  the  township  was  a  Mr.  Berry,  who,  in 
1836,  located  near  the  present  village  of  Victoria,  which  lies 
partly  in  this  and  partly  in  Victoria  Township.  Mathew  Her- 
bert and  Larkin  Robinson  followed,  the  next  year.  In  1839, 
the  first  members  of  what  soon  became  a  thrifty  Scotch  colony 
began  to  settle  on  some  of  the  best  lands ;  and  the  descendants 
of  these  sons  of  "Auld  Scotia"  are  now  men  of  wealth  and  high 
moral  standing  in  the  community.  The  Gordons,  Cooks,  Mc- 
Cornacks,  Taits,  McKies,  Leightons,  McClymonts,  McMasters, 
McDowells,  Stevensons,  Milroys,  McQuarries  and  others,  with 
their  numerous  and  thrifty  progeny,  were  among  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  the  township.  Later,  its  rich  lands  have 
attracted  a  large  number  of  Swedes,  whose  thrift,  industry 
and  probity  have  made  of  these  first  immigrants  wealthy 
farmers  and  landholders.  Their  descendants,  by  intermarrying 
with  the  native  population,  are  fast  becoming  homogeneous,  as 
they  are  a  patriotic  body  of  American  citizens,  while  their 
success  is  due  to  brain  no  less  than  to  brawn. 

When  the  first  settlers  arrived,  a  small  tribe  of  Indians 
still  inhabitated  a  grove,  now  known  as  Foreman  Grove,  near 
the  northern  limits  of  the  present  township. 

The  first  child  born  in  Copley  was  a  son  of  Mathew  Her- 
bert, in  1836.  The  first  death  was  that  of  Harriet  Foster,  in 
1842.  Rev.  Charles  Bostwick  and  Mrs  Hurr  were  the  first 
couple  to  be  married,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Bostwick  preached  the 
first  sermon  in  1840,  in  a  log  school  house. 

The  first  school  was  taught  by  Miss  Mary  J.  Smith,  after- 
wards Mrs.  John  Becker,  in  a  log  cabin,  one  and  one-half  miles 
northwest  of  Victoria. 

There  are  few  townships  where  the  value  of  an  education 
is  more  genuinely  appreciated  than  here,  the  result  being 
shown  in  the  exceptional  intelligence  and  culture  of  its  citizens. 

The  first  saw  mill,  that  of  Jeremiah  Collinson,  operated 
by  horse  power,  was  put  up  in  1850.  Mr.  Berry  was  the  builder 
of  the  first  frame  structure,  on  Section  9,  in  1840.    Now  some 


65 

of  the  finest  residences  in  the  county  are  to  be  found  on  its 
prairie  farms. 

Copley  Township  has  lacked  railroads,  and  by  reason  of 
that  want  has  no  large  towns.  In  1894,  however,  to  reach 
the  extensive  coal  fields  of  this  and  Victoria  townships,  a 
railroad  was  built  from  Wataga,  on  the  line  of  the  Burlington 
and  Quincy  Railroad,  running  through  nearly  the  center  of  the 
township,  to  a  mining  village  called  Etherly,  located  on  the 
eastern  boundary  of  Copley.  This  village  was  laid  out  on  the 
southeastern  quarter  of  Section  35,  on  August  10,  1894,  by 
Samuel  Charles.  Owing  to  legal  complications,  which  pre- 
vented for  a  time  the  operating  of  the  road,  the  village  is  yet, 
(1899),  without  many  inhabitants.  It  is  believed,  however, 
that,  under  altered  conditions,  a  thriving  mining  town  will 
soon  be  built  up  to  develop  the  rick,  unworked  coal  deposits 
which  underlie  nearly  all  the  southern  part  of  Copley.  This 
railroad  has  been  since  extended  into  the  village  of  Victoria, 
which,  with  its  natural  advantages  of  situation,  has  heretofore 
only  lacked  railroad  facilities  to  become  one  of  the  most  pros- 
perous villages  in  the  county. 

The  first  town  officers  elected  in  1853,  were:  J.  0  Stan- 
\ey,  Supervisor;  N.  Kelsey,  Clerk;  J.  M.  Perkins,  Assessor; 
Austin  Gaines,  Collector;  Isaac  Copley  and  A.  W.  Buckley,  Jus- 
tices ;  A.  A.  Smith,  S.  McCornack  and  J.  Sirie,  Commissioners 
of  Highways,  and  J.  Collinson,  Overseer  of  the  Poor. 

Its  population  in  1860  was  one  thousand  and  ten;  in  1870 
it  was  twelve  hundred  and  nineteen;  in  1880  it  had  fallen  ot 
one  thousand  and  seventy-six  and  in  1890  was  nine  hundred 
and  ten. 


66 


HISTORY  OF  ELBA  TOWNSHIP 
By  Miss  Elsie  D.  North 

The  Illinois  Indians  were  no  doubt  the  first  inhabitants  of 
Elba  Township,  but  were  gradually  driven  further  South  by 
the  Kickapoos.  These  were  industrious,  intelligent  and  cleanly 
in  comparison  with  most  of  their  kind,  and  made  this  town- 
ship only  their  temporary  home,  on  the  way  to  and  from  other 
hunting  grounds.  So  the  white  men  never  had  to  dispute  pos- 
session of  this  land  with  the  Indians,  nor  were  they  ever 
molested  by  the  Red  Men,  so  far  as  history  shows. 

The  first  white  man  to  locate  in  the  township  was  John 
King,  of  Ohio,  who,  in  1835,  came  and  took  up  80  acres  on  Sec- 
tion 2,  then  returned  to  Ohio  to  bring  out  his  family.  The  next 
Spring  he  again  started  West,  leaving  his  family  to  follow 
later,  but  arriving  at  Peoria,  he  was  taken  sick  and  died  before 
reaching  Knox  County-  As  soon  as  they  could  leave  their  old 
home,  but  which  was  not  until  1837,  his  widow  and  nine 
children,  the  youngest  less  than  2  years  old,  made  the  long 
westward  journey  in  wagons  drawn  by  oxen,  stopping  with  her 
brother  in  Peoria  County  until  their  new  home  could  be  built. 

Very  soon  thereafter  came  Darius  Miller  and  his  brother ; 
then  Felix  Thurman  settled  on  Section  34,  L.  A.  Jones  on  Sec- 
tion 15,  Jacob  Kightlinger  on  Section  27  and  James  H.  Nichol- 
son on  Section  25.  Josiah  Nelson,  John  Thurman,  John  and 
William  West,  Vachel  Metcalf,  J.  H.  and  W.  H.  Baird  and 
Samuel  Tucker  were  also  early  settlers. 

The  first  marriage  was  Moses  Smith  to  Tabitha  George  in 
1840,  by  Jacob  Kightlinger,  the  first  Justice  of  the  Feare, 
whose  Commission  was  dated  August,  1839.  The  first  birth 
was  Tabitha  Smith,  on  Section  35. 

The  first  house  in  the  township  was  the  one  built  by 
Thomas  King  for  his  widowed  mother  and  sisters  and  brothers. 
It  was  on  the  north  side  of  Section  2,  on  the  Knoxville  and 
Peoria  stage  road,  and  was  a  one  room  log  building,  with  a  loft 
above. 

The  population  increased  steadily  as  the  township  was 
built  up,  many  of  the  early  settlers  having  large  families — the 
majority  of  these  were  from  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York,  while  several  came  from  England. 

The  first  school  house  in  the  township  was  built  by  Jacob 
Kightlinger  in  1842,  on  Section  27,  but  before  this  Mr.  Kight- 
linger had  employed  a  private  governess,  named  Antoinette 
Walker,  to  teach  his  children,  eleven  in  number.  Vachel  Met- 
calf had  also  taught  school  in  a  private  house,  in  1840.    As  the 


67 

township  became  more  settled,  other  school  houses  were  built 
until  now  there  are  eight  in  the  township,  all  being  substantial 
frame  buildings  of  one  room  each 

The  early  settlers  did  not  meet  with  such  hardships  as 
were  endured  by  many  pioneers.  Their  homes  were  usually  in 
or  near  the  timber,  which  furnished  material  for  their  build- 
ings as  well  as  fuel  and  shelter  for  their  live  stock  until  they 
could  build  barns  and  sheds.  There  was  plenty  of  game  and 
fish  for  food  and  good  grazing  for  stock  out  on  the  prairie. 
Only  the  cultivated  land  was  fenced  and  cattle,  horses  and 
hogs  roamed  at  will  over  the  prairies,  and  as  they  often  failed 
to  come  home  at  night,  much  time  was  spent  hunting  for  them. 
Money  was  not  plentiful  and  prices  were  very  low,  corn  selling 
for  20  cents  per  bushel ;  potatoes,  18%  cents  per  bushel ;  pork, 
2  cents  per  lb. ;  lard,  4  cents  per  lb. ;  butter,  6  cents  per  lb ; 
flour,  $4.50  per  barrel;  wheat,  60  cents  per  bushel;  oats,  30 
cents  per  bushel,  etc.,  but  the  wants  of  these  people  were  not 
many  and  were  easily  satisfied. 

Travel  at  first  was  mostly  on  foot,  on  horseback  or  in 
wagons  drawn  by  oxen  or  horses,  while  the  fortunate  owners 
of  the  first  buggies  and  carriages  were  frequently  called  on 
to  loan  them  to  their  poorer  or  less  provident  neighbors.  Dur- 
ing busy  seasons,  while  horses  were  working  in  the  fields,  some 
thrifty  housewives  would  occasionally  take  a  basket  of  eggs 
and  butter  on  either  arm  and  walk  three  or  four  miles  to  mar- 
ket, bringing  home  groceries  in  exchange  for  their  produce. 
At  the  present  time  travel  is  mostly  by  buggy  and  automobile, 
very  few  farmers  feeling  themselves  too  poor  to  afford  the 
latter. 

In  the  early  days  Farmington  in  Fulton  County,  Charles- 
ton (now  Brimfield)  in  Peoria  County,  and  Knoxville  were  the 
nearest  trading  points.  Later  there  were  stores  at  Newburg 
in  Peoria  County  and  Glenwood  in  Salem  township.  There  was 
a  store  at  Eugene  in  Elba  township.  When  Elmwood  and 
Yates  City  were  started  they  secured  most  of  the  trade  of  this 
township,  which  they  now  share  with  Williamsfield  and  Doug- 
las. Also  the  early  settlers  hauled  much  of  their  wheat  to 
Peoria,  and  it  was  not  uncommon  to  haul  a  load  to  Chicago, 
bringing  back  lumber  or  something  not  obtainable  at  nearby 
towns. 

The  first  store  in  the  township  was  at  Eugene,  on  Section 
2.  It  was  a  general  store  kept  by  E.  A.  Ellsworth,  in  a  small 
building  near  his  residence,  and  was  started  prior  to  1850- 
There  was  also  a  Post  Office  here,  the  mail  being  brought  by 
stage  from  Knoxville  and  Peoria.  Later,  (in  1860),  Miss 
Mary  King  moved  both  store  and  Post  Office  to  her  home, 
just  east  of  her  brother,  James  King's  house;  sometime  after 


68 

her  marriage  to  John  Wilson  in  1862,  they  were  moved  across 
the  road  in  Truro  township. 

The  first  Post  Office  in  Elba,  however,  was  at  the  home  of 
Jacob  Kightlinger,  and  in  1870  one  was  established  on  Section 
15,  called  Spoon  River,  but  the  following  year  the  name  was 
changed  to  Elba  Centre.  There  was  also  a  store  here.  Miss 
Rebecca  Boyes,  an  aunt  of  County  Superintendent  of  Schools, 
W.  F,  Boyes,  being  Postmistress  and  store-keeper. 

Felix  Thurman  put  up  the  first  saw-mill  in  the  township, 
on  French  Creek.  It  was  a  small  mill,  run  by  water  power. 
There  was  at  one  time  a  tile  factory  on  the  farm  of  George  W. 
Smith,  on  Section  24;  E.  A.  Ellsworth  also  owned  one  on  Sec- 
tion 1,  and  there  were  brick  kilns  on  Section  13  and  14,  but 
these  industries  have  long  since  passed  away. 

In  early  days  Samuel  Tucker  kept  a  tavern  at  his  home, 
a  double  log  house  on  Section  2. 

Coal  was  discovered  in  1847,  on  Section  15,  by  Jacob 
Kightlinger. 

Elba  township  was  organized  in  April,  1853,  as  Liberty 
township,  but  the  same  year  its  name  was  changed  to  Elba. 
N.  S.  Barber  was  named  Moderator  and  J.  W.  Himes,  Clerk. 
Forty-nine  votes  were  cast,  resulting  in  the  choice  of  James  H. 
Nicholson  for  Supervisor;  H.  L.  Bailey,  Assessor;  Henry  Smith, 
Collector;  J.  W.  Himes,  Clerk;  H.  Oberholtzer,  John  West  and 
K.  Himes,  Commissioners  of  Highways;  John  West  and  B.  F. 
Johnson,  Justices  of  the  Peace;  William  Searles,  Overseer  of 
the  Poor;  Henry  Smith,  Constable. 

The  present  officers  are:  H.  W,  Oberholtzer,  Supervisor; 
J.  P.  Cecil,  Assessor;  Thomas  Stroub,  Highway  Commissioner; 
Ralph  Baird,  Clerk ;  William  Fuller,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Rev.  S.  S.  Miles,  a  Methodist  minister,  preached  the  first 
sermon  in  the  township  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Lambert,  in  1839. 
Preachers  would  come  through  the  country  and  services  would 
be  held  at  different  homes,  on  any  day.  After  the  school  houses 
were  built,  services  were  held  in  them.  The  Rev.  Cross,  who 
figures  prominently  in  Underground  Railroad  affairs,  lived  in 
this  township  and  preached  at  various  places.  In  Oct.  1854,  he 
lectured  to  a  fair-sized  crowd  in  the  newly-built  Pleasant  Hill 
school  house,  the  first  meeting  held  in  the  building.  For  years 
quarterly  meetings  were  held  in  groves  through  the  township 
and  "protracted"  meetings  in  the  various  school  houses.  Sun- 
day School  was  held  in  the  school  houses,  also. 

The  first  church  was  built  by  the  Methodists,  in  1874,  on 
Section  17,  and  was  dedicated  in  June  of  that  year,  by  Presi- 
dent Evans  of  Hedding  College.  No  regular  services  have  been 
held  in  this  church  for  some  time  now.     In  1875  the  Presby- 


69 

terians  built  a  Church  on  Section  10,  but  as  many  of  the  mem- 
bers soon  after  died  or  left  the  township,  the  building  was  sold 
and  moved.  In  1876  the  Methodists  erected  a  church  on  Sec- 
tion 13,  which  is  called  Bethel.  No  services  have  been  held 
here  for  some  months.  In  early  days  the  Bible  and  religion 
were  the  principal  subjects  for  discussion  whenever  thinking 
men  got  together,  taking  the  place  now  filled  by  politics  and 
events  of  the  day. 

At  one  time  there  was  a  strong  leaning  toward  temper- 
ance in  the  community  and  a"  Good  Templar  Lodge  was  organ- 
ized in  1867,  and  a  hall  built  on  Section  16,  but  gradually  inter- 
est died  out,  and  the  members  dropped  out  one  by  one.  In  1876 
the  building  was  sold  and  turned  into  a  dwelling. 

The  first  farms  received  very  little  cultivation ;  indeed  it 
was  not  needed  to  raise  a  good  crop.  When  the  hazel-brush 
was  cleared  off  the  land,  the  soil  was  very  productive,  and  it  is 
said  that  on  this  newly  cleared  land,  after  the  seed  had  been 
scattered  by  hand,  it  was  sometimes  brushed  into  the  soil  by 
drawing  the  bough  of  a  tree  over  it.  On  prairie  land  the  sod 
was  sometimes  cut  with  a  spade  and  the  seed  dropped  into  the 
cut.  Usually  however,  new  land  was  broken  with  a  breaking 
plow  drawn  by  several  yoke  of  oxen.  With  these  plows,  brush 
eight  or  ten  feet  tall  would  be  turned  under.  A  free  negro, 
named  Solomon  Bradley,  did  considerable  breaking  for  Elba 
farmers. 

When  ready  to  hai^'est  the  grain  was  cut  with  a  cradle  and 
threshed  out  on  the  barn  floor  either  with  flails  or  trampled  by 
horses.  Corn  when  harvested  and  even  wheat  was  often  piled 
up  on  the  ground  outside,  with  no  protection  but  a  rail  pen 
around  it,  but  little  spoilage  resulting. 

At  first  the  amount  of  live  stock  raised  was  comparatively 
small,  as  there  was  not  a  very  good  market  for  it.  Hogs  had  to 
be  killed  and  dressed  on  the  farm,  then  hauled  from  10  to  40 
miles  or  even  farther,  to  market.  After  the  railroad  from 
Peoria  to  Galesburg  was  built,  and  it  became  possible  to  ship 
live  stock  to  market,  more  cattle  and  hogs  were  raised  on  the 
farms,  until  at  the  present  day  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see 
a  drove  of  from  100  to  200  on  a  farm. 

There  are  many  good  herds  of  cattle  found  on  the  farms 
of  Elba,  some  being  pure-bred,  while  others  are  high  grade. 
The  first  pure-bred  Shorthorn  cattle  were  brought  into  the 
township  by  G.  W.  Kennedy  in  1866,  and  at  one  time  he  had  a 
herd  of  126  head.  Some  years  ago  there  was  a  strong  inclin- 
ation toward  the  raising  of  Daily  cattle,  but  of  late,  owing  to 
the  inability  of  the  farmers  to  secure  competent  help,  and  to 
the  high  price  of  daiiy  feeds,  more  dual-puiiDose  and  beef  cattle 
are  being  kept. 


70 

At  first  there  were  very  few  sheep  kept,  because  the 
wolves  and  dogs  were  so  destructive  to  them,  but  about  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War,  when  wool  became  so  scarce  and  high- 
priced,  many  farmers  bought  flocks  or  added  to  those  they 
already  had.  Within  the  last  few  years,  also,  there  has  been 
considerable  increase  in  sheep-raising,  caused  by  the  high 
prices  of  wool  and  mutton.  The  first  sheep  were  the  coarse- 
wool  kind,  but  were  soon  succeeded  by  the  Merino  variety. 
Today  the  medium  wool  are  about  the  only  kind  that  are  raised 
here.  Many  farmers  of  the  township  are  also  interested  in 
raising  pure-bred  horses. 

June  5,  1844,  a  most  destructive  wind  and  rain  storm  vis- 
ited Elba  township  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  county.  Houses 
and  barns  were  unroofed  or  destroyed  and  other  damage  done. 
It  is  likely  that  this  is  the  storm  which  took  the  roof  off  the 
Widow  King's  home,  destroying  much  of  her  personal  property. 

In  May,  1858,  another  severe  storm  visited  this  township. 
Mrs.  James  King  recalls  that  all  the  windows  on  the  west  side 
of  their  house,  both  upstairs  and  down  were  broken  by  the  hail, 
and  the  rain  poured  in  in  such  volume  that,  the  upstairs  floors 
being  tight,  it  ran  down  the  stairway,  like  a  river.  In  the 
northwest  part  of  the  township  a  Mrs.  Farster  was  killed  by 
the  storm,  and  on  the  farm  of  J.  H.  Nicholson  a  large  new  born 
was  blown  off  its  foundation. 

In  August,  1907,  a  storm  of  wind,  rain  and  hail  passed 
through  the  township  breaking  windows,  up-rooting  trees  and 
destroying  crops.  Hail  stones,  having  the  circumference  of 
baseballs,  but  with  uneven,  jagged  edges,  were  picked  up  in 
the  path  of  the  storm. 

There  have  been  several  notably  severe  snow  storms,  the 
worst  ones  in  January  and  February,  1885,  and  December,  1917 
and  January,  1918.  In  both  of  these  a  great  amount  of  snow 
fell,  accompanied  by  high  winds  which  caused  it  to  drift  badly, 
completely  filling  and  blockading  roads,  making  travel  impos- 
sible for  several  days.  Even  railroad  trains  were  caught  in 
snowdrifts  and  unable  to  get  through  for  a  couple  of  days.  As 
the  temperature  was  well  below  zero,  much .  suffering  was 
caused  both  to  people  and  animals. 

In  the  Fall  of  1869  or  '70,  in  the  northeast  part  of  the 
township,  a  little  Cowley  child  wandered  away  and  was  lost. 
The  mother  was  attending  a  quilting  at  the  home  of  a  neigh- 
bor. She  supposed  the  child,  a  little  boy  of  some  2  or  3  years, 
was  playing  with  the  others,  but  when  she  was  ready  to  go 
home  he  was  not  to  be  found.  Search  about  the  place  failed  to 
reveal  him,  and  soon  the  entire  neighborhood  was  aroused. 
The  little  fellow,  thinly  clad  and  without  wraps,  was  found  the 
next  morning,  face  downward  on  the  frozen  ground,  by  his  dis- 


71 

tracted  grandfather,  William  King.    He  had  died  of  exposure. 

In  pioneer  days  the  homes  were  very  simple  and  scantily 
furnished.  Because  of  the  great  distance  the  early  settlers 
had  to  come  to  reach  their  new  homes,  and  the  difficulty  of 
transportation,  only  such  articles  were  brought  along  as  were 
deemed  necessary.  A  few  dishes  and  cooking  utensils,  some 
chairs,  a  table,  a  bed  or  two,  and  their  bedding  would  comprise 
their  household  furnishings.  Often  beds  would  be  built  into 
the  side  or  corner  of  the  home,  thus  simplyfying  matters. 
Many  families  also  owned  spinning  wheels  and  looms,  and  the 
mother  spun  yarn  and  wove  cloth  for  her  family's  garments. 
Later  rag  carpets  were  woven  on  these  looms,  and  the  homes 
were  thus  made  more  comfortable. 

At  first  fireplaces  served  both  for  heating  and  cooking; 
these  gradually  gave  place  to  cook  stoves  and  heating  stoves, 
which  today  are  replaced  in  many  homes  by  the  kitchen  range 
and  furnace.  The  dirt  or  bare  wood  floors  and  rag  carpets 
gave  place  to  carpets  of  ingrain  and  brussels  and  these  in  turn 
to  polished  hardwood  floors  and  velvet  rugs. 

At  first  the  tallow  dip,  or  candle  furnished  light,  but  was 
superseded  by  the  kerosene  lamp,  and  this  in  many  homes  by 
electric  lights  or  acetylene  gas. 

The  heavy  stone-china  or  pewter  dishes  have  been  replaced 
by  china,  glass  and  silver,  and  the  iron  pots  and  skillets  by 
those  of  aluminum  and  enameled  ware. 

The  washing  and  sewing  machines,  the  power  churn, 
vacuum  cleaner  and  bread-mixer  have  been  brought  into  many 
homes  to  make  easier  the  farm  woman's  work. 

Where  fifty  years  ago  the  organ  in  an  Elba  home  was  a 
novelty,  today  there  are  very  few  homes  without  an  organ, 
piano,  phonograph  or  musical  instrument  of  some  sort. 

As  the  pioneers  became  prosperous  and  conditions  easier, 
the  old  log  cabin  was  found  insufficient  and  new  and  more 
commodious  homes  of  frame  or  brick  were  built.  Many  of 
these  houses,  built  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  are  still  in  use, 
and,  so  substantial  were  the  materials  of  which  they  were 
made,  and  so  thorough  the  workmanship  employed  in  their 
construction  that  today  they  compare  favorably  with  houses 
built  many  years  later.  Of  these  homes,  probably  none  is 
much  if  any  older  than  the  brick  house  built  by  J.  H.  Nicholson 
on  Section  25  in  1848,  which  is  at  present  the  home  of  his 
grandson. 

Life  was  by  no  means  all  work  and  no  play  for  the  early 
settlers.  There  were  house-raisings  and  barn-raisings  to  call 
the  men  together  and  quite  needless  to  say  there  was  always 
much  pleasure  to  be  had  at  such  a  time.  At  butchering  time  also 


72 

several  neighbors  would  be  called  in  to  help.  The  women  had 
their  quiltings  and  apple-parings,  while  the  young  people  took 
especial  delight  in  singing  and  spelling  school  and  dances.  Vis- 
iting played  an  important  part  in  the  lives  of  these  hard- 
working people  and  helped  to  keep  alive  in  the  community  a 
spirit  of  neighborliness  and  good-fellowship. 

They  were  a  veiy  hospitable  people,  and  though  their 
accommodations  might  be  meager,  seldom  was  the  traveler 
turned  away  from  their  door,  even  though  he  were  a  stranger. 

On  the  whole  the  residents  of  Elba  are  very  prosperous ; 
most  of  the  farms  are  attractively  located,  well  cultivated  and 
improved  and  the  houses  generally  comfortable  and  commod- 
ious buildings,  some  having  all  the  conveniences  of  city  homes. 

Elba  has  always  done  her  part  in  whatever  way  she  was 
called  upon.  During  the  Civil  War  she  sent  her  share  of  sol- 
diers to  the  front,  and  fine  young  men  they  were,  too,  some  of 
whom  did  not  live  to  come  back  to  their  homes,  but  found 
graves  in  Southern  battlefields.  During  the  recent  World  War 
she  sent  her  quota  of  noble  manhood,  regardless  of  the  fact 
that  they  could  ill  be  spared,  and  gave  generously  of  money  to 
help  the  Red  Cross  and  other  war  activities. 

This  is  the  only  township  in  the  county  without  a  railroad. 
Neither  is  there  a  Post  Office  or  business  house  of  any  kind 
within  its  limits.  About  three-fourths  of  the  township  is  fine, 
roHing  prairie,  with  a  rich,  black,  loamy  soil,  especially  suited 
to  the  production  of  cereals,  being  one  of  the  best  townships  in 
the  county  for  that  purpose.  A  yield  of  52  bushels  of  wheat 
per  acre  and  75  bushels  of  oats  has  been  known. 

The  population  in  1910  was  619. 


73 

ANNALS  OF  GALESBURG 
By  Martha  Farnham  Webster 

The  annals  of  Galesburg  are  cherished  in  the  hearts  of  her 
children.  The  children  of  the  Founders,  their  children,  and 
their  children's  children,  for  generations  to  come,  may  well 
look  back  with  emotions  of  pride  and  veneration  upon  the  suc- 
cessful fulfillment  of  a  worthy  purpose  by  those  men  and 
women  of  sterling  worth  and  noble  achievement — the  Found- 
ers of  Galesburg — the  Colonists  of  1836-37. 

The  founding  of  Galesburg  was  the  fulfillment  of  a  dream 
which  took  hold  upon  the  fancy  of  the  Rev.  George  W.  Gale  of 
Whitesboro,  N.  Y.,  and  which  held  him  under  its  potent  spell 
until  it  became  a  ruling  passion  with  him.  It  came  to  him  not 
only  as  a  "dream,  in  a  vision  of  the  night  when  deep  sleep  fall- 
eth  upon  man,"  but  by  day  and  by  night,  for  many  days  and 
nights  in  succession  it  held  in  thrall,  until  no  longer  able  or 
willing  to  ignore  its  influence,  he  yielded  to  its  spell  and  gave 
up  a  work  which  he  had  successfully  promoted  for  seven  years 
and  devoted  his  every  talent  and  energy  to  the  carrying  out  of 
a  plan  which  had  been  maturing  in  his  thought  and  seeking 
fulfillment  at  his  hand. 

Before  entering  into  a  discussion  of  this  plan,  viz.,  a  scheme 
for  the  founding  of  an  institution  of  learning  somewhere  in 
the  far,  unknown  western  country  which  had  begun  to  stretch 
forth  beckoning  hands  to  the  substantial  citizens  of  New  York 
and  New  England  to  come  out  and  possess  the  land,  let  us  learn 
something  of  the  previous  history  of  that  man  who  was  above 
all  others  the  founder  of  the  town,  the  college,  and  the  church, 
and  whose  name  set  as  a  signet  in  the  name  of  our  fair  city, 
shall  be  held  in  honored  remembrance  so  long  as  the  city  itself 
remains. 

George  Washington  Gale  was  born  in  Stanford,  Dutchess 
County,  New  York,  December  3,  1789.  He  was  the  only  son 
and  the  youngest  child  of  his  parents,  and  was  of  frail  consti- 
tution and  delicate  health.  At  eight  years  of  age  he  was  left 
an  orphan  to  the  care  of  his  older  sisters,  of  whom  there  were 
eight,  all  of  them  well-married  and  living  in  the  home  neigh- 
borhood. Naturally  their  oversight  of  the  young,  only  brother 
was  most  tender  and  loving,  but  it  was  also  tinged  with  the 
austerity  which  characterized  the  rigid  methods  of  family 
government  in  that  period.  They  kept  him  constantly  em- 
ployed, either  in  study,  or  in  the  thousand  nameless  duties  that 
fall  to  the  lot  of  a  willing  and  obedient  boy  on  a  large  farm. 

George  Gale  was  ambitious  and  much  devoted  to  study, 
and  at  an  early  age  he  entered  Union  College  in  Schenectady, 


74 

N.  Y.,  successfully  completed  the  course  of  study  and  was 
graduated  with  honor.  From  Union  College  he  went  to  Prince- 
ton Theological  Seminary,  then,  as  now,  one  of  the  leading 
Theological  schools  of  this  country.  But  his  health  did  not 
permit  him  to  complete  the  course  of  study  in  the  Seminaiy, 
and  greatly  to  his  regret,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  school, 
hoping,  however,  to  return  at  some  future  time  to  finish  his 
course.  This  he  did  in  1819,  at  thirty  years  of  age.  In  the 
meantime  he  had  been  licensed  to  preach,  and  during  the  period 
of  rest  from  his  studies,  he  labored  as  a  Home  Missionary  in 
a  comparatively  new  territory  in  northern  New  York.  During 
this  period  he  was  actively  engaged  in  evangelistic  work  and 
was  the  means  of  organizing  a  number  of  churches  in  that  ter- 
ritoiy.  Returning  to  Princeton  and  completing  the  course 
there,  he  immediately  thereafter  accepted  a  call  to  the  church 
at  Adams,  Jefferson  County,  N.  Y.,  riding  thither  on  horse- 
back from  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

After  a  time  failing  health  again  compelled  Mr.  Gale  to 
give  up  his  work,  and  he  resigned  from  this,  his  first  and  last 
regular  pastorate,  much  to  the  regret  of  all.  Seeking  health 
in  a  milder  climate,  he  went  to  Virginia  and  spent  some  months 
there.  His  experiences  in  the  South  and  his  contact  and  inter- 
course with  people  of  a  different  type  broadened  his  vision  and 
taught  him  lessons  which  were  of  value  to  him  in  later  years. 
Step  by  step  he  was  led  into  experiences  which  would  especially 
fit  him  for  taking  up  the  crowning  work  of  his  life. 

Improved  in  health,  Mr.  Gale  returned  to  New  York,  but 
found  himself  still  unable  to  take  up  the  duties  of  a  pastorate. 
He  therefore  found  a  temporary  home  in  a  comfortable  old- 
fashioned  house  on  a  small  farm  in  Oneida  County,  N.  Y. 
This  old  farm  house  proved  to  be  the  source  and  inspiration 
of  the  dream  to  which  we  have  referred — the  dream  which  led 
him  on  to  the  establishment  of  a  school  for  young  men  with 
limited  means,  and  later  to  the  development  of  a  plan  which 
resulted  in  the  founding  of  Knox  College  and  the  City  of  Gales- 
burg. 

Briefly,  the  plan  was  to  provide  an  opportunity  for  young 
men  of  small  means,  or  of  no  means  at  all,  to  secure  an  educa- 
tion ;  preferably  for  those  who  had  the  gospel  ministry  in 
view.  He  invited  young  men  of  the  neighborhood  to  come  to 
him  for  instruction.  Half  a  dozen  young  men  responded,  and 
to  these  he  gave  instruction  and  furnished  books,  while  they 
each  agreed  to  perform  three  hours'  daily  work  upon  the  farm 
in  return. 

The  plan  was  a  success,  and  attracted  much  attention  with 
the  result  that  after  a  time  with  the  aid  of  interested  friends, 
he  founded  a  school  in  the  village  of  Whitesboro,  Oneida 
County,  New  York,  which  bore  the  name  of  Manual  Labor  In- 


75 

stitute.  This  experiment  proved  to  be  the  germ  and  the  grad- 
ual development  of  the  project  which  resulted  in  the  organiz- 
ation of  the  Galesburg  colony  and  the  founding  of  Knox  Col- 
lege. 

Mr.  Gale  remained  with  the  school  at  Whitesboro  for  seven 
years.  In  1834  he  retired  from  the  management  and  entered 
into  a  new  scheme  looking  toward  the  founding  of  an  institu- 
tion of  learning  in  the  far  away  western  country,  then  so 
largely  unoccupied  or  even  unexplored. 

He  carefully  prepared  a  "Circular  and  Plan"  clearly  set- 
ting forth  his  enlarged  scheme.  (This  interesting  document 
is  quoted  in  full,  beginning  at  page  9  in  the  volume  entitled 
"Seventy-five  Significant  Years — The  Stoiy  of  Knox  College," 
prepared  by  the  writer  of  these  annals  at  the  request  of  the 
trustees  of  Knox  College.) 

Mr.  Gale  sent  out  his  circular  and  set  about  securing  sub- 
scriptions to  his  entei'prise,  making  a  personal  canvass  among 
his  friends  in  Central  and  Eastern  New  York,  striving  to  inter- 
est both  clergymen  and  laymen  in  the  plan  in  which  he  himself 
was  so  deeply  and  vitally  interested.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
year  1835,  he  had  secured  a  sufficient  number  of  subscriptions 
to  justify  an  organization  of  the  effort,  and  the  action  was 
therefore  taken  which  was  to  be  of  such  untold  influence  and 
importance  in  the  years  to  come. 

An  organization  was  accomplished  in  the  First  Presbyter- 
ian Church  in  Rome,  New  York,  on  the  6th  of  May,  1835.  A 
Prudential  Committee  was  selected  which  was  composed  of 
six  men  who  were  empowered  to  fill  out  their  number  to  eleven 
members.  These  six  men  were  Walter  Webb  of  Adams,  Nehe- 
miah  West  of  Ira,  Thomas  Gilbert  of  Rome,  John  C.  Smith  of 
Utica,  George  W.  Gale  of  Whitesboro,  and  H.  H.  Kellogg  of 
Clinton.  Where  should  the  new  enterprise  be  located  ?  Where 
should  be  found  the  ways  and  means  for  carrying  it  to  com- 
pletion? These  were  the  questions  which  involved  long  and 
earnest  discussion  on  the  part  of  this  committee. 

An  exploring  committee  must  be  named.  Who  should  be 
selected  to  undertake  this  highly  important  and  responsible 
work?  The  choice  fell  upon  Nehemiah  West,  Thomas  Gilbert 
and  T.  B.  Jervis  for  the  exploring  committee,  and  the  Rev. 
George  W.  Gale  was  to  enlist  families  and  secure  funds  for 
the  new  colony. 

By  June,  1835,  about  one-half  of  the  proposed  sum  was 
subscribed;  that  is,  about  $20,000.  Only  about  $6,000  of  this 
was  ever  paid.  But,  having  "set  their  hands  to  the  plow,"  the 
promoters  of  this  enterprise  would  not  turn  back,  and  so,  on 
the  6th  day  of  June,  1835,  was  held  in  Rome,  N.  Y.,  the  first 
meeting  of  the  subscribers.     Of  that  meeting  the  Rev.  John 


76 

Waters,  afterward  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Galesburg  col- 
ony, was  made  chairman  and  T.  B.  Jervis,  secretary.  The  fol- 
lowing were  appointed  trustees  of  the  fund:  Messrs.  Wal- 
ter Webb,  Nehemiah  West,  Thomas  Gilbert,  John  C.  Smith,  G. 
W.  Gale  and  H.  H.  Kellogg ;  and  as  already  stated,  Rev.  George 
W.  Gale  was  general  agent. 

Thirty-three  persons  had  given  their  approval  to  the  plan 
and  had  subscribed  $21,000  toward  carrying  it  into  execution, 
but  only  about  half  the  names  on  that  orginal  subscription 
list  became  permanent  names  on  the  records  of  the  colony. 
The  list  contained,  of  course,  the  names  which  have  been  men- 
tioned above  in  connection  with  the  various  committees,  and 
others,  making  forty-six  in  all,  many  of  the  names  never  ap- 
pearing in  the  annals  of  the  colony.  (A  list  of  the  original  sub- 
scribers may  be  found  on  page  12-13  in  the  volume  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  "Seventy-five  Significant  Years." 
The  book  may  be  found  in  the  Galesburg  Public  Library 
and  the  Library  of  Knox  College,  the  State  Historical  Libraiy 
at  Springfield,  111.,  and  the  Library  of  Memorial  Continental 
Hall,  Washington,  D.  C.) 

The  exploring  committee  was  instructed  to  explore  the 
prairie  state  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  between  the  fortieth  and 
forty-second  degrees  of  north  latitude,  with  reference  to  the 
best  location  for  the  proposed  settlement.  The  intructions  give 
evidence  of  shrewd  calculation  on  the  part  of  those  who  drafted 
them  and  are  so  explicit  In  every  detail  that  unwise  or  ill  ad- 
vised action  on  the  part  of  the  committee  could  scarcely  have 
been  possible.  (An  interesting  outline  of  these  instructions 
may  be  found  on  page  15  of  "Seventy-five  Significant  Years.") 

The  committee  went  out  as  instructed,  explored  the  re- 
gions designated,  fixed  upon  a  location  in  Knox  County  in  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  returning  made  their  report  to  the  sub- 
scribers at  their  second  meeting,  August  19,  1835.  The  report 
was  accepted  and  a  purchasing  committee  was  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  Rev.  George  W.  Gale,  Silvanus  Ferris  and  Nehemiah 
West.  Their  instructions  were  to  purchase  not  less  than 
twenty  sections  of  land  and  as  much  more  as  their  funds 
would  allow,  one-tenth  of  which  must  be  timber  and  the  rest 
prairie,  and  for  which  the  government  price  of  $1.25  per  acre 
was  to  be  paid.  Three  sections  should  be  reserved  for  college 
and  village  purposes  and  the  rest  sold  to  actual  settlers  at 
$5.00  per  acre.  The  surplus  thus  accruing  was  to  constitute 
the  endowment  of  the  college ;  while  the  proceeds  from  the  sale 
of  village  lots  were  to  be  used  toward  the  endowmnt  of  a  Fe- 
male Seminary. 

And  so  the  purchasing  committee  set  out  upon  that  final 
mission  in  this  great  enterprise — the  purchase  of  the  land  on 


77 

which  now  stands  the  fair  city  of  Galesbiirg  as  a  monument  to 
their  wise  and  far-sighted  investment. 

The  story  of  the  journey  of  the  purchasing  committee  is 
most  interestingly  told  in  a  letter  written  by  Nehemiah  West, 
one  of  the  committee,  to  a  relatives,  immediately  after  his  re- 
turn from  the  trip.  We  quote  portions  of  the  letter.  After 
describing  the  experiences  of  the  journey,  some  of  them  peril- 
ous and  all  of  them  interesting  and  which  occupied  three 
months  for  the  round  trip,  he  referred  to  the  purchase  of  the 
site  selected  by  the  exploring  committee;  he  says:  "We  pro- 
ceeded to  Illinois  and  after  examining  all  the  places  visited  by 
the  committee  in  the  spring,  we  selected  a  location  in  the 
county  of  Knox,  lying  nearly  central  between  the  Illinois  and 
Mississippi  rivers  in  the  Military  Tract,  150  miles  southwest 
from  Chicago  and  about  40  miles  west  of  Peoria.  We  pur- 
chased about  20,000  acres  nearly  in  a  square  form,  mostly 
prairie.  It  is  a  fine  tract  of  land  in  a  very  healthy  country, 
well  watered  and  supplied  with  abundance  of  stone  and  coal. 
We  surveyed  it  out  into  lots  of  eighty  acres  each,  agreeable  to 
our  plan  of  distribution  among  subscribers. 

In  the  center  we  laid  off  three  contiguous  sections  of  640 
acres  each,  for  college  and  village  purposes — two  for  the  col- 
lege and  one  for  the  village — stuck  the  stakes  of  our  college 
building  and  returned  home.  *  *  *  We  have  about  thirty  fam- 
ilies, all  pious,  who  are  to  settle  together,  so  you  see  we  have 
the  prospect  of  a  good  socciety  and  the  facilities  for  educating 
our  children.  We  expect  to  start  with  our  families  as  soon  as 
the  roads  are  passable  in  the  spring.  I  have  a  log  cabin  ready 
to  move  into  till  I  can  build  and  40  acres  broken  up  all  ready  for 
any  kind  of  grain.  We  expect  to  break  and  fence  200  or  300 
acres  of  the  college  land  next  season  and  sow  it  to  wheat. 

Crop  Conditions 

Thirty  bushels  to  the  acre  is  the  usual  product  for  the 
first  crop.  It  is  worth  six  shillings  per  bushel,  eighty  bushels 
to  the  acre  of  corn,  worth  two  shillings  per  bushel,  but  it  is 
worth  more  to  feed,  as  pork  is  worth  $4.00  per  cwt.  to  send  to 
New  Orleans."  The  last  paragraph  quoted  gives  us  an  idea 
of  the  crop  conditions  of  that  period  and  the  financial  returns 
which  the  early  settlers  received  from  their  produce. 

Comparative  Prices,  1836-1918 

In  1836  wheat  sold  for  between  $1.40  and  $1.50  per  bushel ; 
com  sold  for  50  cents  per  bushel  and  hogs  for  $4.00  per  hun- 
dred. Now,  in  1918,  wheat  is  worth  $2.10  per  bushel,  corn 
$1.50  per  bushel  and  hogs  are  selling  for  $20.00  per  hundred 
weight,  and  therefore,  now,  as  then,  the  farmers  find  that  corn 
is  "worth  more  to  feed"  than  to  sell. 


78 

The  First  Company  Sets  Out  for  "The  West." 

As  early  in  the  spring  of  1836  as  the  roads  would  permit, 
"the  advance  guard  of  the  army  of  occupation"  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Nehemiah  West,  left  their  pleasant  homes  in  New 
York  and  started  westward.  They  journeyed  in  strong,  well- 
built,  canvas  covered  wagons  drawn  by  patient,  plodding 
horses.  Their  rate  of  progress  was  that  of  about  as  many 
miles  per  day  as  the  average  railway  train  covers  in  an  hour. 
Four  long  weeks  measured  their  slow  and  toilsome  length 
before  the  new  home  was  reached  and  they  beheld  "the  city  of 
their  dreams." 

The  First  Dwellings 

And  what  did  they  look  upon  ?  Not  a  city  of  comfortable 
homes,  of  schools  and  churches  and  business  houses,  as  were 
their  own  familiar  Utica  and  Albany,  not  even  the  pretty, 
peaceful  village  nestling  at  the  foot  of  the  green  hills  from 
which  they  turned  their  faces  as  they  bade  good-bye  to  home 
and  friends ;  but  just  a  few  rude  log  cabins  standing  in  the  out- 
skirts of  a  "stretch  of  timber"  that  bordered  an  apparently 
limitless  expanse  of  trackless,  treeless  prairie.  These  cabins 
were  located  three  and  one-half  miles  northwest  of  the  center 
of  the  site  of  their  future  city  of  Galesburg.  They  had  been 
built  and  occupied  by  settlers  coming  up  from  Kentucky  and 
other  parts  of  the  south,  who  had  within  the  five  or  six  years 
previous  fringed  the  grove  with  a  tier  of  farms  and  had  then 
vacated  their  cabins  presumably  for  more  commodious  quar- 
ters. There  were  not  enough  of  these  cabins  to  accommodate 
even  the  first  party  that  arrived,  but  they  distributed  them- 
selves as  best  they  could  until  they  could  build  cabins  for  them- 
selves, and  in  their  turn  vacate  those  they  found  to  be  occupied 
by  a  succession  of  later  arrivals  who  came  during  the  summer 
and  fall  of  1836  and  the  spring  of  1837.  Some  of  the  young 
people  slept  in  corn  cribs  belonging  to  the  cabins,  or  were 
housed  in  tents  made  of  boughs  until  a  sufficient  number  of 
cabins  could  be  built  for  the  shelter  of  all  who  came ;  albeit 
they  must  be  crowded  to  the  extent  of  two  and  three  families 
in  a  single  room  of  these  rude  buildings. 

;  "Log  City" 

The  cluster  of  cabins  which  thus  sprang  up  along  the  edge 
of  Henderson  Grove,  and  scattered  for  a  mile  or  more  along  the 
woodland  trail,  came  to  be  known  in  the  history  of  the  colony 
as  "Log  City,"  a  name  revered  and  honored  in  the  hearts  of  all 
true  and  loyal  descendants  of  the  Founders. 

Description  of  the  First  Cabins 

Prof.  George  Churchill  of  Knox  College  in  one  of  his  his- 
torical papers  says:     "It  would  astonish  a  modern  builder  to 


79 

examine  one  of  these  mansions.  Some  of  them  were  built 
without  as  much  as  a  single  nail  or  pane  of  glass  in  the  entire 
structure.  Log  walls  were  chincked  with  mud,  outside  chim- 
ney constructed  of  sticks  and  clay,  with  upper  aperature  so 
large  as  not  only  to  give  egress  to  the  smoke,  but  ingress  to 
the  light  when  the  cabin  door  was  shut.  Doors  made  of  split 
boards  fastened  with  wooden  pins  to  a  wooden  hinge ;  a  punch- 
eon floor,  and  roof  covered  with  shakes  (narrow  strips  of 
wood)  held  down  by  heavy  log  riders. 

First  Rude  Furnishings 

The  furniture  was  at  first  as  rude  as  the  cabins.  Boxes, 
barrels  and  short  logs  were  the  chairs,  a  larger  box  the  table, 
and  a  one-post  bed  stood  in  one  corner  of  the  room." 

Shipments  of  Furniture  Long  Delayed 

One  reason  for  the  utter  crudeness  of  the  furniture  thus 
described,  and  the  lack  of  household  conveniences  of  all  kinds 
was  the  fact  that  their  goods  were  shipped  by  water  and  were 
delayed  many  weeks  after  the  colonists  themselves  had  arrived 
on  the  scene.  The  "one-post  bed"  referred  to  above  was  con- 
structed in  this  way :  A  pole  was  mortised  into  a  log  at  the 
end  of  the  room  at  a  proper  distance  from  the  corner  to  meas- 
ure the  width  of  the  iDed.  Another  pole  was  mortised  into  the 
side  wall  at  the  distance  of  a  bed's  length.  The  two  poles  which 
came  together  at  a  right  angle  were  supported  by  a  third  up- 
right post  which  constituted  the  only  outer  support.  Ropes 
were  interlaced  across  and  around  these  poles  forming  by  their 
network  a  foundation  for  a  straw  bed,  the  popular  mattress  of 
that  day.  A  straw  or  husk  or  hay  mattress  made  a  fragrant 
wholesome  resting  place,  providing  the  filling  of  the  ticks  was 
replenished  often  enough  to  meet  sanitary  requirements.  A 
third  bed  was  often  made  between  the  two  corner  beds  by  plac- 
ing four  "chests"  side  by  side.  These  chests  were  a  necessary 
article  in  the  household  furniture  of  every  family.  They  con- 
tained the  wearing  apparel  of  the  family,  and  every  time  an 
article  stored  in  them  was  needed,  the  bedding  had  to  be  re- 
moved. The  one  room  was  equipped  with  a  stove  for  cooking 
and  heating  purposes,  or  sometimes  with  only  a  fireplace.  One 
of  the  stoves  in  a  Log  City  home  has  been  thus  described :  The 
stove  was  in  the  shape  of  an  oblong  box  with  one  large  opening 
in  the  center  of  the  top ;  directly  underneath  this  was  the  fire- 
box with  a  wide,  projecting  hearth  in  front  where  the  hoe- 
cakes  were  toasted. 

In  these  crowded,  crude,  and  neccessarily  unsanitary 
quarters  they  cooked,  and  ate,  and  slept  and  suffered  all  kinds 
of  privations  and  hardships,  but  remained  strong  in  courage 
and  hope.  The  manner  of  housing  and  furnishing  was  only  a 
temporary   "make   shift"   until   their   furniture   arrived   and 


80 

more  comfortable  houses  could  be  built.  Before  the  winter 
drew  near  they  were  all  comfortably  housed  in  log  cabins,  suf- 
ficient in  number  and  capacity  for  their  immediate  needs.  The 
cold  weather  of  the  autumn  of  1836  found  175  residents  in 
Log  City  busily  preparing  for  the  coming  winter.  During  the 
winter  the  men  were  busy  getting  timber  ready  for  the  houses 
to  be  built  on  the  prairie  in  the  spring.  After  the  first  saw- 
mill was  put  up,  house  building  began  in  good  earnest. 

First  Saw  Mill  in  1837 

A  steam  saw  mill  was  built  on  colony  land  in  Henderson 
Grove  by  John  Kendall  and  was  completed  in  1837.  Previous 
to  the  completion  of  this  mill  sawed  lumber  for  building  was 
only  obtainable  by  hauling  logs  from  Henderson  Grove  to 
Knoxville,  and  paying  for  the  mill  work  with  two-thirds  of  the 
boards.  Naturally  it  was  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  col- 
onists to  have  their  own  saw  mills  located  upon  colony  land. 
The  next  year  the  Feri'is  brothers.  Western,  Olmsted,  and  Wil- 
liam, sons  of  Silvanus  Ferris,  built  the  second  mill  two  miles 
northwest  of  the  Kendall  mill,  and  shortly  afterward  a  third 
saw  mill  was  erected  in  Galesburg  b}^  Nehemiah  West,  Erastus 
Swift,  and  George  W.  Gale.  This  mill  was  located  on  the  north 
side  of  Ferris  Street  between  West  and  Academy.  Although 
located  four  miles  from  the  nearest  timber  the  output  of  this 
latter  mill  was  in  great  demand  and  found  ready  use  at  the 
point  where  it  was  turned  out.  And  doubtless  the  combined 
output  of  the  three  mills  was  needed  to  meet  the  demands  of 
the  colonists  who  were  building  their  village  and  their  farm 
houses  upon  the  prairies  during  these  first  busy  years  from 
1836  to  1840.  The  houses  upon  the  prairie  were,  with  an  ex- 
ception, frame  houses,  albeit  they  were  plain  and  modest  in 
their  structure.  An  early  settler  in  writing  of  these  buildings 
says,  "In  the  early  days  of  the  Galesburg  settlement  few  vill- 
ages in  Illinois  could  boast  of  painted  houses  and  the  white 
dwellings  of  the  embryo  city  attracted  the  pleased  attention  of 
eastern  travelers.  This  distinction  was  rendered  possible  by 
the  oil  mill  built  and  operated  by  Leonard  Chappell  on  Kellogg 
street,  between  Main  and  Ferris.  There  oil  might  be  had  in 
exchange  for  flax  seed  raised  on  the  farms." 

The  first  dwelling  house  built  upon  the  site  of  the  city  of 
Galesburg  was  that  of  William  Holyoke,  and  it  stood  on  the 
lot  now  occupied  by  the  Mathews  block,  between  Prairie  and 
Kellogg  streets,  and  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street.  A  frame 
house  built  at  Log  City  and  occupied  by  Riley  Root  and  his 
family  was  placed  upon  large  sleds  and  in  that  way  removed  to 
the  village  on  the  prairie  and  located  upon  the  lot  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  Main  and  Cherry  streets  in  the  block  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank,  the  Rearick  Hard- 
ware Store,  etc. 


81 

The  First  Meeting-  House 

The  log  cabin  of  Hugh  Conger  has  the  distinction  of  hav- 
ing been  the  first  meeting  house  of  the  colonists,  it  being  more 
commodious  than  some  of  the  others,  as  was  necessary  for  his 
family  of  seven  children.  But  before  the  cold  weather  of  their 
first  winter  set  in  a  more  commodious  and  comfortable  build- 
ing was  provided  which  was  designed  for  both  church  and 
school  pui"poses. 

First  Building  for  Both  Church  and  School  Purposes 

This  was  a  two-room  building  with  a  wide  door  between 
the  rooms  in  which  the  speaker  stood  so  as  to  be  readily  seen 
and  heard  from  both  rooms.  It  was  constructed  of  split  tim- 
bers, roofed  with  split  shakes,  floored  with  split  boards,  and 
when  the  saw  mill  began  to  run,  ceiled  upon  the  inside  with 
rough  basswood  boards  and  the  space  between  the  clapboards 
and  the  ceiling  filled  with  saw-dust.  Professor  Churchill  says : 
"It  would  not  be  much  out  of  the  way  to  say  that  in  this  very 
building  the  first  terai  of  Knox  College  was  held  with  Profes- 
sor Nehemiah  H.  Losey  as  principal  and  Miss  Lucy  Gay  as 
assistant." 

First  Public  School  Building 

It  also  served  the  pui-pose  of  a  public  school  and  was  the 
only  building  for  that  purpose  until  the  following  year,  or  pos- 
sibly two  years,  when  the  first  public  school  building  devoted 
primarily  and  especially  to  that  purpose  was  erected  in  the 
new  village  on  the  prairie.  It  stood  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  public  square  facing  the  south.  It  could  boast  of  one  feat- 
ure of  the  most  approved  and  up-to-date  type ;  that  is,  the  floor 
was  inclined  from  the  front  to  the  rear  of  the  room,  so  that  the 
teacher  standing  or  seated  by  his  desk  at  the  further  end  could 
readily  supei'\'ise  the  deportment  of  the  pupils. 

First  Public  School  Teacher 

Among  the  many  who  held  sway  over  this  school  from 
1840  to  1850  were  Eli  Farnham,  who  had  the  distinction  of  be- 
ing the  first  teacher  of  the  first  public  school  in  Galesburg; 
James  H.  Noteware,  afterward  superintendent  of  public  schools 
for  the  State  of  Kansas ;  Marshall  Belong,  one  of  the  most  pop- 
ular and  successful  teachers  of  the  early  day,  in  this  vicinity ; 
George  Churchill,  prince  of  teachers  from  the  very  beginning 
of  his  long  career  in  the  school  and  class-room ;  and  Henry 
McCall,  whose  wife  and  daughter.  Miss  Ida  McCall,  many  years 
thereafter,  were  both  of  them,  and  for  a  number  of  years  both 
at  the  same  time,  the  honored  and  beloved  teachers  of  many 
successive  classes  in  Knox  Academy. 

Development  of  Galesburg  Public  Schools 

From  that  small  beginning  the  Galesburg  Public  School 


82 

system  has  developed  and  increased  until  it  has  reached  the  fol- 
lowing proportions:  In  the  fall  of  1918  there  are  twelve  build- 
ings with  a  total  enrollment  of  3,721  pupils.  The  High  School 
is  a  modem,  well-equipped  building  of  forty-four  rooms.  The 
grade  buildings  range  in  size  from  four  to  thirteen  rooms. 
There  are  one  hundred  twenty-eight  instructors  and  supervis- 
ors and  fifteen  secretaries  and  other  helpers,  making  in  all 
one  hundred  forty-three  upon  the  pay  roll.  The  school  build- 
ings with  the  exception  of  the  High  School  and  the  Central  Pri- 
maiy  are  named  in  honor  of  the  two  most  distinguished  men 
our  state  has  given  to  the  nation ;  for  Presidents  and  Profes- 
sors in  our  Colleges,  and  for  substantial  citizens  who  have  given 
efficient  service  upon  the  board  of  trustees  in  the  colleges,  and 
the  board  of  education  in  the  Public  schools.  These  are  the 
names : 

Names  of  Public  School  Buildings 
Lincoln,  Douglas,  Weston,  Bateman,  Churchill,  Hitchcock, 
Cooke,  Farnham,  Silas  Willard  and  L.  T.  Stone.  An  attractive 
and  finely  equipped  gymnasium  was  completed  during  the 
summer  of  this  centennial  year,  and  to  this  building  is  given 
the  name  of  the  W.  L.  Steele  Gymnasium,  in  memory  of  the 
lamented  superintendent  of  our  city  schools  who  for  thirty- 
three  years  devoted  himself  untiringly  and  with  pronounced 
success  to  the  improvement  and  the  upbuilding  of  these  schools 
and  died  in  May,  1918,  just  previous  to  his  voluntary  retire- 
ment from  the  active  service  which  he  had  so  well  performed. 

But  to  go  back  to  the  autumn  of  1837.  At  this  time  so 
many  had  moved  out  to  their  farms  or  to  the  village  upon  the 
prairie,  that  the  church  services  were  held  alternately  at  the 
grove  and  at  the  village,  in  the  latter  place  the  meetings  being 
held  in  a  store  building  which  was  owned  by  Matthew  Cham- 
bers and  was  located  at  the  intersection  of  Main  street  with 
the  Public  Square,  east  of  the  Square  and  on  the  south  side  of 
Main  street. 

Population  of  the  Town  at  the  Close  of  1837. 

By  the  close  of  1837  there  was  a  community  numbering 
232.  Of  these  175  came  in  1836  and  57  in  1837.  Besides  these 
there  were  at  least  two  families  belonging  to  the  original  colony 
who  settled  elsewhere.  Mr.  Thomas  Gilbert  settled  in  Knox- 
ville  and  Mr.  Isaac  Wetmore  in  Ontario.  But  the  colonists  of 
1836  and  1837  were  the  original  "Old  Settlers,"  and  these  were 
they  who,  building  themsetlves,  "their  lives,  their  fortunes  and 
their  sacred  honor,"  into  the  structure  of  the  College,  the 
Church,  and  the  community,  won  for  themselves  the  distinctive 
title  of  "The  Founders."  As  a  matter  of  historic  interest  in- 
terest and  for  purposes  of  information  to  further  inquirers  we 
give  below  the  names  of  the  colonists  of  1836  and  1837,  the 
"Founders  of  Galesburg." 


83 

Names  of  Colonists — 1836 

The  first  company  who  arrived  on  the  second  day  of  June, 
1836,  consisted  of  the  following  persons:  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nehe- 
miah  West  and  their  five  children ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hugh  Conger 
and  seven  children ;  Miss  Elizabeth  Hudson ;  Mr.  Barber  Allen 
and  his  son,  Daniel ;  and  the  young  men,  John  G.  West  and 
Abram  Tyler. 

The  First  Wedding,  August  31,  1836 

Miss  Elizabeth  Hudson  and  Mr.  Henry  Ferris  were  the 
principals  in  the  first  wedding  of  the  colony.  They  were  mar- 
ried August  31,  1836,  only  two  months  after  the  arrival  of 
Miss  Hudson.  Mr.  Ferris  had  spent  the  previous  winter,  that 
of  1835-1836,  in  one  of  the  log  cabins  in  Henderson  Grove,  and 
was  on  the  ground  to  welcome  the  first  company  on  its  arrival. 
There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  he  lived  entirely 
alone  in  his  cabin,  or  had  the  company  of  another  man,  one  of 
the  Goodell  family. 

Other  Companies  Arrive 

The  names  of  other  colonists  who  arrived  with  their  fam- 
ilies during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1836  are  the  following: 
Messrs.  George  and  H.  Troop  Avery,  their  mother  and  sisters ; 
Mathew  Chambers ;  Leonard  Chappell ;  C.  S.  Colton ;  Patrick 
Dunn ;  Caleb  Finch ;  Lusher  Gay ;  Daniel  Griffith ;  Abel 
Goodell ;  William  Hamblin ;  John  Haskins ;  Mrs.  Sarah  Warner 
Hitchcock,  a  widow  and  her  sons,  Elam  and  Samuel ;  the  two 
Kendall  brothers,  Adoniram  and  John ;  Elisha  King ;  John  Mc- 
Mullen ;  Isaac  Colton ;  Roswell  Payne ;  Riley  Root ;  Thomas 
Simmons ;  Erastus  and  Job  Swift ;  Daniel  Wheeler,  and  Henry 
Willcox.  The  most  of  them  had  families  of  two  or  more  little 
children.  Two  of  the  young  men  were  married  during  the  sum- 
mer or  fall  of  1836.  This  list  does  not  include  the  members  of 
the  canal  boat  company  who  arrived  about  August  1,  1836, 
Rev.  George  W.  Gale  with  his  wife  and  family  of  young  child- 
ren arrived  quite  late  in  the  fall  of  1836. 

"The  Canal  Boat  Company,"  1836. 

The  historic  "canal  boat  trip"  of  the  summer  of  1836  was 
made  up  of  a  series  of  vicissitudes  and  disasters  seldom  paral- 
leled in  the  annals  of  pioneer  emigration.  The  company  num- 
bered thirty-seven  and  included  men,  women  and  children  rang- 
ing in  age  from  an  infant  of  six  weeks  to  men  and  women  of 
forty  or  fifty  years.  The  persons  making  up  this  party  were : 
Captain  John  C.  Smith  and  wife  (Mr.  Smith  being  one  of  the 
subscribers  to  Mr.  Gale's  enterprise,  and  the  promoter  of  this 
water  trip  for  the  party)  ;  Miss  Catherine  Ann  Watson,  a  neice 
of  Mrs.  Smith,  and  two  little  sons  of  Dr.  Grant,  a  Nestorian 
missionary  who  came  under  their  care ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mills,  two 
sons  and  a  daughter;  Miss  Hannah  Adams,  a  sister  of  Mrs, 


84 

Mills ;  a  girl  named  Mariah  Fox,  and  a  negro  boy  named  Harry, 
who  was  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Mills ;  Mr,  Lyman,  his  wife, 
two  sons  and  two  daughters ;  Mr.  Orrin  Kendall,  his  wife  and 
two  little  sons ;  John  Kendall ;  N.  H.  Losey,  his  wife,  and  one 
child ;  Henry  Hitchcock,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Losey ;  Mrs.  Clarissa 
Phelps,  two  daughters  and  one  son,  two  nieces  and  a  nephew 
(the  children  of  Riley  Root)  ;  John  Bryan  and  a  negro  who 
steered  the  boat.  The  disastrous  experiences  of  this  party  are 
related  in  Chapter  VI  of  the  book  entitled  "Seventy-five  Signi- 
ficant Years,"  to  which  we  have  previously  referred.  They  are 
of  pathetic  and  tragic  interest. 

Arrivals  in  Spring  of  1837 

In  the  spring  of  1837  a  number  of  substantial  citizens  with 
their  families  arrived  to  swell  the  population  of  the  little  com- 
munity. Among  them  were  the  following,  the  most  of  them 
married  and  with  children  of  various  ages:  Silvanus  Ferris 
(although  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  enterprise,  he  was 
one  of  the  later  arrivals),  his  sons  William  and  Olmstead, 
both  of  them  married ;  Mr.  Ferris'  son-in-law,  Dr.  James  Bruce ; 
J.  P.  Frost,  the  founder  of  the  Frost  Manufacturing  Company, 
and  wife;  Eli  Farnham  and  wife;  H.  H.  May,  the  inventor  of 
the  first  steel  plow,  and  wife ;  Agrippa  Martin  and  family ;  Levi 
Sanderson  and  family ;  Junius  Prentice  aind  family ;  Sheldon 
Allen,  wife  and  infant  son ;  Jonathan  Simmons  and  wife ; 
Harvey  Jerauld ;  Western  Ferris ;  N.  0.  Ferris ;  George  Ferris 
and  possibly  others.  One  section  at  least  of  this  group  of  fam- 
ilies was  six  weeks  on  the  way.  Judging  from  the  record  of 
the  names  of  the  towns  and  villages  touched  along  the  route, 
their  line  of  travel  was  much  the  same  as  that  followed  by  the 
Michigan  Central  railroad  today. 

Methods  of  Travel  Then  and  Now 

The  early  methods  of  travel  were  as  we  have  seen,  slow, 
wearisome  and  hazardous.  They  were  in  almost  overwhelm- 
ing contrast  to  the  luxurious  service  and  the  rapid  transit 
afforded  by  the  railroads,  the  ocean  liners,  the  private  motor 
cars,  and  most  amazing  of  all,  the  air  craft  of  the  present  day. 
Many  have  made  the  mistake  of  concluding  that  the  Galesburg 
colonists  traveled  from  the  East  in  wagons  drawn  by  ox  teams. 
This  is  not  true.  They  came  either  in  wagons  covered  with 
canvas  to  protect  them  from  the  weather  and  drawn  by  strong 
horses,  or  by  the  water  route  which  included  in  its  devious 
course  the  Erie  canal.  Lake  Erie,  the  Ohio  canal,  the  Ohio 
River,  and  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  rivers.  Some  of  the 
men  who  came  singly  came  by  water  as  far  as  Chicago,  which 
was  then  a  village  of  a  few  hundred  inhabitants,  and  then 
by  horseback  the  remainder  of  the  way. 


85 

The  Pioneers  from  the  Southern  States 
The  southerners  who  settled  along  the  outskirts  of  Hen- 
derson Grove  five  or  six  years  previous  to  the  coming  of 
our  colonists  made  the  journey  on  horseback  bringing  with 
them  their  personal  belongings  and  such  small  articles  of  fur- 
niture as  they  could  carry  upon  pack  horses.  A  remarkable 
example  of  pioneer  enterprise  and  intrepid  adventure  may  be 
found  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Henrietta  Brown,  the  widowed 
mother  of  eight  sons  and  daughters  who  grew  up  to  be  prom- 
inent and  useful  citizens  in  the  townships  adjacent  to  Hen- 
derson Grove.  When  the  spirit  of  emigration  took  hold  upon 
a  group  of  her  friends  and  neighbors,  substantial  citizens  of 
the  ''Kentucky  Blue  Grass  Countiy,"  she  joined  their  ranks 
and  with  her  children,  ranging  in  age  from  an  infant  to  young 
manhood  and  womanhood,  she  journeyed  from  Kentucky  with 
a  train  of  horses  of  the  fine  old  Kentucky  stock,  sufficient  in 
number  to  transport  herself  and  her  children,  the  family  cloth- 
ing and  bedding  and  a  few  pieces  of  furniture.  The  children 
who  were  too  small  to  ride  alone,  and  the  younger  ones  too 
numerous  to  ride  upon  the  horse  with  their  mother  were  sus- 
pended in  panniers  swung  across  the  backs  of  the  pack  horses. 

The  First  Fort  in  Knox  County 

Upon  the  tract  of  Government  land  which  Mrs.  Brown 
acquired  which  was  located  about  seven  miles  N.  W.  of  Gales- 
burg,  the  first  fort  or  stockade  in  Knox  County  was  erected. 
This  served  the  purpo^^e  of  a  dwelling  for  her  family  and  a 
place  of  refuge  for  the  neighbors  in  case  of  alarm  from  the 
Indian  bands  who  roamed  the  prairie  at  that  period.  Later, 
when  that  building  became  too  small  to  protecting  the  increas- 
ing population,  another  fort  was  built  upon  the  premises  of 
her  son-in-law,  Peter  Franz,  and  was  located  about  one-half  the 
distance  between  the  first  fort  and  the  present  site  of  Gales- 
burg.  Two  other  forts  erected  in  Knox  County  in  that  early 
period  as  protection  against  the  Indians  were  located  respec- 
tively on  Section  10  in  Henderson  Township  and  S.  E.  of  Knox- 
ville  in  Orange  Township.  The  forts  N.  W.  of  the  site  of 
Galesburg  were  called  Fort  Aggie  and  Fort  Lewis. 

The  First  Store 

The  first  store  in  the  community  was  conducted  bj'  one 
of  the  colonists  from  Maine,  Mr.  Chauncey  S.  Colton,  who  came 
in  the  season  of  1836.  It  is  said  that,  with  true  Yankee  thrift 
and  enterprise,  he  began  to  sell  goods  in  one  end  of  the  log 
cabin  of  one  of  the  Kentucky  settlers,  with  whom  he  and  his 
family  were  quartered  until  his  store  building  about  a  mile 
farther  west,  in  the  Log  City  neighborhood,  could  be  com- 
pleted. This  building  is  described  as  an  8  by  10  foot  structure 
in  which  Mr.  Colton  displayed  a  varied  assortment  of  goods — 


86 

"a  department  store"  in  embryo.  But  about  this  nucleus  he 
gathered  a  fortune  as  the  years  passed  by,  until  he  became  one 
of  the  wealthiest  men  of  his  day  in  this  section  of  the  state. 
As  the  homes  upon  the  prairie  were  occupied  Mr.  Colton  re- 
moved his  stock  of  goods  to  a  building  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  the  intersection  of  Main  street  and  the  Public  Square  in  the 
village  which  building  also  served  the  puiT)ose  for  his  family 
for  a  number  of  years. 

Others  Stores 

During  that  same  season  other  stores  were  opened  by 
Mathew  Chambers  and  Levi  Sanderson  who  also  carried  on  a 
thriving  and  prosperous  business  and  were  reckoned  among 
the  moneyed  men  of  the  county. 

Commercial  Development  Along  All  Lines 

The  mercantile  business  thus  started  has  developed  along 
all  lines  suited  to  household  needs  until  Galesburg  with  its  var- 
ious wholesale  and  retail  business  houses  has  become  the  com- 
mercial center  for  a  large  area  of  one  of  the  richest  tracts  of 
country  in  the  state. 

First  Academy  Building 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1838  the  first  Academy  building  was 
finished  and  occupied.  It  stood  where  the  First  National  Bank 
building  now  stands,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Main  and 
Cherry  streets.  Years  ago  it  was  moved  farther  north  to 
the  middle  of  the  block,  fac'ng  Cherry  street,  and  was  at  first 
used  as  a  private  residence,  and  afterward  as  a  boarding 
house.  This  historic  structure  was  demolished  early  in  the 
spring  of  1918,  and  is  now  only  a  memory. 

With  the  Academy  building  completed  and  occupied  by  an 
academic  department  of  forty  students  and  a  corps  of  teachers, 
it  began  to  look  as  if  Mr.  Gale's  great  idea  was  about  to 
be  realized.  The  college  had  entered  upon  its  career  of  use- 
fulness. But  since  it  could  not  spring  into  being  fully  equipped 
it  must  first  be  established  upon  a  strong  and  durable  founda- 
tion. That  foundation  was  the  preparatory  school,  the  Acad- 
emy. 

First  Knox  College  Faculty 

The  first  faculty  of  the  college  was  composed  of  five  mem- 
bers. They  were  the  following:  Rev.  Hiram  H.  Kellogg,  Pres- 
ident ;  Rev.  George  W.  Gale,  Acting  Professor  of  Languages ; 
Nehemiah  H.  Losey,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Nat- 
ural Science;  James  H.  Smith,  A.  B.,  Tutor;  Miss  Julia  Chand- 
ler, Preceptress  of  the  "Female  Department."  After  the  re- 
quired training  in  the  Academy  the  first  Freshman  class  was 
ready  to  enter  upon  the  regular  college  curriculum  in  the 
fall  of  1841,  five  years  after  the  arrival  of  the  colonists  at 
"Log  City." 


87 

First  Knox  Commencement 

In  June,  1846,  the  first  Knox  Commencement  Day  oc- 
curred, and  a  class  of  nine  young  men  was  graduated.  Of 
these,  five  became  ministers,  two  of  whom  were  foreign  mis- 
sionaries, two  became  physicians,  one  a  professor  in  college, 
and  one  a  farmer.  Dr.  Jonathan  Blanchard,  who  became  Presi- 
dent of  the  college  in  1845,  had  the  distinction  of  presiding  over 
this  first  notable  occasion  and  with  this  event  the  Idea  had 
fully  materialized,  the  dream  came  true. 

Numbers  Then  and  Now 

Some  figures  by  way  of  comparison  will  show  the  develop- 
ment of  the  college  up  to  the  present  time.  The  first  college 
faculty  numbered  five.  The  faculty  at  the  beginning  of  the 
school  year,  1918,  numbered  24.  The  first  graduating  class 
numbered  9;  the  class  of  1918  numbered  50.  Presumably  the 
first  Freshman  class  numbered  9,  although  we  have  not  the 
figures  at  hand.  The  Freshman  class  in  the  fall  of  1918  num- 
bered 292.  Of  these  235  were  inducted  into  the  Student's 
Army  Training  Corps,  according  to  the  new  order  of  things 
throughout  the  entire  country  in  consequence  of  the  "World 
War."  There  were  in  all  301  new  students  of  whom  288  were 
men.  A  large  number  of  men  who  would  naturally  have  swelled 
the  ranks  of  the  other  classes  had  enlisted  for  active  service 
in  the  army  and  were  either  in  the  train'ng  camps  or  had  gone 
"overseas." 

Lombard  College 

In  the  year  1851,  another  college  was  founded  in  Gales- 
burg  by  the  Universalists,  of  which  denomination  there  were 
a  number  of  influential  families  among  the  early  settlers.  The 
intention  was  at  first  to  make  it  more  of  a  preparatory  school 
than  a  college,  and  it  was  to  be  known  as  the  Illinois  Liberal 
Institute.  Accordingly  on  February  15,  1851,  a  charter  was 
granted  to  this  new  enterprise  under  that  name.  In  1852  the 
school  opened  its  doors  to  pupils  in  a  new  building  which  was 
erected  on  the  northwest  comer  of  Tompkins  and  Seminary 
streets.  The  first  faculty  was  composed  of  two  teachers,  the 
Rev.  Paul  Raymond  Kendall  and  a  lady  assistant  who  not  long 
afterward  became  his  wife.  Between  sixty  and  seventy  pupils 
were  at  first  enrolled.  Dr.  Kendall  was  President  and  his  wife, 
who  was  a  lady  of  versatile  accomplishments  was  able  to  assist 
him  in  the  various  branches  taught. 

Dr.  J.  V.  N.  Standish 

In  1854,  John  Van  Ness  Standish,  a  descendant  of  Captain 
Myles  Standish  of  "Pilgrim"  fame,  was  added  to  the  faculty. 
He  was  a  native  of  Vermont  and  a  graduate  of  Norwich  Uni- 
versity. From  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  Galesburg  to  the 
present  time,  for  a  period  of  seventy-four  years,  the  presence 


88 

among  us  of  this  honored  citizen  has  been  a  powerful  influence 
and  aid  in  the  up-building  of  our  city.  Educational,  moral, 
reformatory,  phalanthropic,  beneficent,  and  all  other  measures 
looking  toward  our  city's  growth  and  well  being  have  been 
vigorously,  untiringly,  and  generously  supported  by  him.  For 
forty-one  years  he  has  been  President  of  the  Park  Board,  and  in 
that  office  and  also  as  City  Forester,  his  labors  for  the  beauti- 
fying of  our  city  have  been  of  inestimable  value.  Had  he  ac- 
complished no  other  work  during  his  long  and  fruitful  life,  that 
which  he  has  done  for  the  improvement  and  beautifying  of 
Galesburg  would  have  won  for  him  the  tribute  :  "Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant." 

Mrs.  Harriet  Augusta  Standish 

His  wife,  who  as  Miss  Harriet  Augusta  Kendall,  a  cousin 
of  of  the  President,  came  also  to  join  the  faculty  of  the  new 
enterprise  in  1854,  was  a  woman  of  very  superior  mental  at- 
tainments and  culture.  After  her  marriage  to  Dr.  Standish 
she  became  his  inspirer,  his  helper,  and  his  counselor  in  all  his 
undertakings.  She  joined  with  him  in  large  gifts  for  educa- 
tional purposes,  and  beautiful  Standish  Park,  the  Knox  campus, 
Lombard  campus,  and  many  private  grounds  in  our  city  are  a 
monument  to  their  mutual  plans  and  personal  efforts. 
"Should  you  seek  their  monument,  look  about  you."  In  1855 
the  building  of  the  Liberal  Institute  was  burned  to  the  ground, 
and  a  new  project  for  the  school  came  to  the  front.  Its  trus- 
tees decided  that  in  planning  for  a  new  and  better  building, 
plans  for  the  school  should  also  be  enlarged. 

Benj.  Lombard,  Sr. 

They  began  to  solicit  funds  with  the  new  building,  the 
higher  standards,  and  the  enlarged  course  of  study  as  their 
objective.  Mr.  Benjamin  Lombard,  Sr.,  a  wealthy  Universalist 
of  a  neighboring  town  promised  to  give  $20,000  to  the  enter- 
prise, providing  the  trustees  would  raise  $15,000  and  give  his 
own  name  to  the  school.  Arrangements  were  finally  made  for 
carrying  out  this  plan,  and  a  new  charter  was  secured  naming 
the  school  Lombard  University.  This  is  the  name  which  its 
charter  still  bears,  although  some  years  ago  the  trustees  voted 
to  drop  the  name  University,  (as  their  plans  for  University 
courses  had  not  been  realized),  and  call  it  simply  Lombard  Col- 
lege. 

New  Location  Chosen 

The  new  building  was  located  upon  an  eighty  acre  tract, 
lying  one  mile  S.  E.  of  the  original  site  which  gave  ample  space 
for  such  additional  buildings  as  they  might  need.  Mr.  Lom- 
bard offered  to  pay  for  this  ground  if  the  trustees  would  pur- 
chase 't  and  locate  the  building  there.  The  deed  was  given  to 
the  trustees  by  Lorentus  E.  and  Mary  W.  Conger  and  the  pur- 
chase price  was  $3,200. 


89 

Dr.  Standish  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  no  col- 
lege in  this  section  of  the  country  and  possibly  not  one  through- 
out the  entire  land  has  been  erected  under  such  trying  and 
adverse  conditions  because  of  the  entire  lack  of  financial  re- 
sources with  which  to  meet  the  expense  of  construction.  Mr. 
Lombard's  gift  which  was  large  for  that  day  was  not  available 
until  near  the  close  of  the  year  1856. 

The  building  was  erected  by  degrees,  or  in  sections  as  it 
were.  After  exhausting  the  slender  means  at  hand  at  the 
beginning  of  the  work,  the  building  waited  until  further  funds 
could  be  solicited  to  meet  further  expenditures.  For  example, 
the  foundation  was  laid,  the  first  story  put  up,  the  walls  tem- 
porarily roofed  with  boards,  and  the  workmen  dismissed  until 
President  Kendall  could  make  a  tour  of  the  surrounding  towns 
and  country-side  presenting  the  needs  of  the  institution,  and 
urgently  soliciting  contributions,  however  small,  so  that  the 
work  might  go  on.  Then  the  walls  of  the  second  story  were 
laid  and  the  work  again  stopped  until  a  second  canvass  could 
be  made.  Finally  the  third  story  was  finished  and  permanently 
roofed,  and  the  skeleton  of  the  shapely  structure  awaited  for 
many  months  the  interior  finishing  of  partitions,  plastered 
walls  and  permanent  floors. 

Lombard's  First  Commencement — Prof.  Standish  Presides 

The  Commencement  exercises  of  the  year  1857  were  held 
in  the  building  temporarily  fitted  up  for  the  occasion,  and  Pro- 
fessor Standish,  then  acting  President  while  President  Kendall 
was  out  soliciting  funds,  conferred  the  degrees  upon  a  graduat- 
ing class  of  five  members.  Their  names  were  Fielding  Bond, 
Floyd  G.  Brown,  James  H.  Chapin,  Edward  D.  Lunn  and  David 
Scott  Wick.  Two  of  these  young  men  died  in  early  manhood 
and  the  other  three  became  prominent  in  public  and  profes- 
sional life. 

Divinity  School 

A  Divinity  School  was  for  some  years  connected  with  '' 
institution,  but  a  number  of  years  ago,  it  was  removed  to  Chi- 
cago University,  and  Dr.  Lewis  Beals  Fisher,  the  President, 
was  placed  in  charge  of  it  while  a  new  President  was  chosen  for 
the  college. 

Lombard  S.  A.  T.  C. 

The  present  faculty  numbers  twenty-two,  and  the  college 
is  one  of  the  units  of  the  Student's  Army  Training  Corps,  as  a 
result  of  our  country's  participation  in  the  great  *'World  War." 

The  First  Church 

Up  to  about  1840  the  material  growth  of  the  Church  was 
noteworthy  for  so  comparatively  brief  a  period.  The  organ- 
ization of  the  church  had  been  effected  in  February,  1837, 
when  sixty-four  united  with  the  church  by  letter  and  eighteen 


90 

by  profession,  making  eight-eight  on  the  first  enrollment.  At 
the  close  of  a  series  of  revival  meetings  which  followed  the 
occupancy  of  the  new  Academy  building  as  a  place  of  worship, 
fifty-eight  names  were  added  to  the  membership  of  the  church, 
and  its  moral  power  was  greatly  strengthened. 

A  New  Church  Building 

Early  in  the  forties  it  became  evident  that  a  "meeting 
house"  must  be  built.  The  Academy  building  erected  in  183  > 
was  found  to  be  entirely  too  small  for  the  gathering  congrega- 
tions for  in  those  days  everybody  attended  church.  The  his- 
tory of  the  meetings  and  discussions  which  were  held  in  plan- 
ning for  the  ways  and  means  of  providing  for  a  new  and  ample 
building  in  those  days  of  great  privation  and  rigid  economy 
form  a  most  interesting  chapter  in  the  annals  of  the  colony,  but 
there  is  not  space  for  it  here. 

Plans  Adopted 

A  plan  for  the  new  building  was  finally  adopted.  It  was  to 
be  sixty  feet  wide  by  eighty  feet  long,  and  twenty-four  fset 
high  from  floor  to  ceiling.  As  they  sat  in  their  unpretentious 
Academy  building  and  discussed  and  compared  dimensions  it 
seemed  to  some  of  them  that  the  height  was  overwhelming, 
for  the  room  in  which  they  were  assembled  measured  eight  feet 
"between  joists,"  and  twenty-four  feet  would  be  three  times 
as  high  as  that  room,  which  would  be  absurd. 

Work  of  Building  Commenced 

The  original  dimensions,  however,  were  adopted  and  the 
work  commenced.  After  a  time,  for  lack  of  money  and  matei  - 
ial,  the  construction  was  discontinued ;  and  for  months  length- 
ening into  years  the  material  which  had  been  gathered  lay 
in  unsightly  heaps  completely  filling  the  southwest  corner  of 
the  square  near  the  unfinished  structure.  The  building  was 
finally  completed  sufficiently  to  be  used  for  the  Commence- 
ment exercises  of  1846.  It  was  not  wholly  enclosed  and  not 
seated,  but  temporary  seats  of  rough  planks  and  a  temporary 
platform  were  provided.  There  was  to  be  still  further  delay 
before  it  was  finished.  In  1848,  the  building  was  at  last  com- 
pleted and  arrangements  were  made  to  dedicate  it  on  Bacca- 
laureate Sunday  of  Commencement  week.  The  date  was  June 
25th. 

President  Blanchard  preached  the  sermon  and  Father 
Waters  offered  the  dedicatory  prayer.  He,  it  was,  who  with 
the  other  members  of  the  purchasing  committee,  thirteen 
years  before,  had  kneeled  with  uncovered  head  upon  the  un- 
broken prairie  and  dedicated  the  new  enterprise  to  the  Lord, 
imploring  His  favor  and  blessing  upon  it,  and  upon  all  who  in 
all  time  to  come  should  be  connected  with  it.  The  momentous 
events  of  the  intervening  years  and  the  interesting  and  im- 


91 

pressive  exercises  of  that  occasion  were  in  part  an  answer  to 
that  prayer. 

At  two  o'clock  of  the  same  day  Dr.  Gale  preached  the 
Baccalaureate  sermon  and  Rev.  J.  R.  Walker  gave  the  address 
before  the  Society  of  Religious  Inquiry  connected  with  the  Col- 
lege. It  was  truly  a  strenuous  day  for  those  who  attended  the 
entire  series  of  services. 

Professor  Churchill  says  of  this  building  subsequent  to  its 
completion  and  dedication :  "For  many  years,  as  there  was  no 
other  room  in  the  village  so  capacious,  it  was  used,  not  alone  for 
religious  meetings,  but  for  musical  concerts  and  scientific  lec- 
tures, temperance  lectures,  anti-slavery  lectures,  and  conven- 
tions, and  mass  meetings  held  in  the  interests  of  many  of  the 
great  reforms  of  the  day.  The  most  eloquent  pulpit  and  plat- 
form orators  who  graced  the  lecturere's  rostrum  in  the  hey-day 
of  its  glory  always  found  the  old  First  Church  ready  to  give 
them  welcome.  Among  those  who  have  lectured  there  were 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Edward  Everett,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
Wendell  Phillips,  John  B.  Gough,  and  many  others  of  world 
wide  fame.  Many  a  time  I  have  seen  the  house  so  crowded  on 
such  occasions  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  the  speaker 
to  make  his  way  up  the  aisle  to  the  platform." 

Development  of  Religious  Life  in  the  Community 

Since  the  dedication  and  occupancy  of  that  First  Church  of 
Galesburg,  which  was  a  notable  achievement  for  that  early 
period  in  this  section  of  Illinois,  the  development  of  the  organ- 
ized religious  life  of  the  community  has  kept  pace  with  the 
increase  in  the  population.  At  the  present  time  there  are  16 
Protestant  churches  with  a  total  enrollment  of  between  6,000 
and  7,000  resident  members,  all  of  them  having  upon  their 
rolls  non-resident  members,  who  for  various  reasons,  have  not 
severed  their  connection  with  the  Galesburg  Church.  These 
figures  represent  a  church  membership  equal  to  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  population.  There  are  also  two  Roman  Catholic 
churches  with  a  combined  membership  of  somewhat  more  than 
2,000.    This  includes  the  baptized  children  as  well  as  the  adults. 

Hospitals,  Etc.,  At  Present  Time 

Added  to  these  strictly  religious  organizations  are  our 
philanthropic  and  beneficent  institutions  which  always  go  hand 
in  hand  with  the  church.  There  are  two  Hospitals;  an  active 
and  efficient  Free  Kindergarten  Home ;  an  Association  Home 
for  the  care  and  comfort  of  boys  and  girls  too  old  to  be  cared 
for  by  the  Kindergarten,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, and  the  Catherine  Club,  a  delightful  home  for  young 
women  who  need  the  atmosphere  and  the  protection  of  a  home 
in  a  strange  city.  The  buildings  belonging  to  all  of  these  above 
mentioned  institutions  are  fine,  up-to-date,  well  equipped  build- 


92 

ings.  A  Day  Nursery  has  also  been  recently  started  for  the 
purpose  of  caring  for  babies  and  small  children  whose  mothers 
are  obliged  to  labor  during  the  day,  and  have  no  one  with  whom 
to  leave  their  helpless  children  while  they  are  away  from  home. 

Galesburg  Railway  Service 

In  1854  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  com- 
pleted its  line  from  Chicago  to  Galesburg,  and  in  due  course 
of  time  this  city  became  an  important  division  station  on  that 
great  rail  way  system.  The  first  train  reached  the  town  on 
December  seventh  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  The  impetus  which  the  varied  and  far-reaching  ac- 
tivities of  this  road  have  given  to  the  commercial  and  industrial 
life  of  our  city  has  been  of  inestimable  value  as  a  factor  in  its 
growth  and  development.  Later,  in  1886,  the  great  Santa  Fe 
system  (which  according  to  Clark  E.  Carr  is  one  of  the  great- 
est railway  systems  in  the  world),  surveyed  its  line  through 
Galesburg,  and  established  one  of  its  important  stations  here, 
thus  contributing  in  a  large  degree  to  our  influence  and  pros- 
perity. Not  every  inland  prairie  town  can  boast  of  having 
given  the  right  of  way  to  two  of  the  greatest  trans-continental 
railway  lines  of  the  world,  over  which  tourists  and  traffic  must 
of  necessity  unceasingly  roll  in  their  passage  between  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  seaboards. 

Notable  Events  in  Galesburg 

Galesburg  has  been  the  scene  of  many  notable  events,  some 
of  them  involving  national  and  even  international  issues.  Con- 
spicuous among  these  was  the  great  Lincoln-Douglas  Debate  of 
October  7,  1858.  This  was  one  of  a  series  of  debates  between 
those  two  great  men  and  pronounced  political  rivals,  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  These  were  held  at  differ- 
ent points  throughout  the  state  during  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  1858.  The  occasion  for  these  notable  political  discussions 
known  in  history  as  the  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates  was  the  can- 
didacy of  the  two  men  for  election  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  the  question  at  issue  was  the  momentous  question  of  slav- 
ery, which  had  became  a  national  issue. 

Col.  Clark  E.  Carr  in  his  book,  "The  Illini","  says  in  refer- 
ence to  these  debates :  "It  may  be  said  of  this  contest  that  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  the  platform  and  the 
whole  American  people  the  audience,  and  that  upon  its  issue 
depended  the  fate  of  a  continent." 

Galesburg  in  the  Civil  War 

The  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  in  1861,  aroused  Galesburg 
to  a  high  pitch  of  patriotic  enthusiasm  and  devotion.  Many  of 
the  best  and  noblest  of  her  sons  offered  themselves  to  the  ser- 
vice of  their  country  and  quite  a  number  of  them  were  called 


93 

upon  to  make  the  "supreme  sacrifice,"  while  others  suffered 
from  disease  and  wounds,  and  the  horrors  of  confinement  and 
starvation  in  southern  prisons,  carrying  with  them  for  the 
remainder  of  their  lives  the  physical  effects  of  their  distressing 
and  disabling  experience.  Among  the  soldier  volunteers  were 
a  large  number  of  students  from  Knox  and  Lombard  colleges. 
This  greatly  depleted  the  enrollment  and  interrupted  the  pre- 
scribed courses  of  study  in  both  these  institutions  from  the 
depressing  effects  of  which  they  did  not  soon  rally.  Too  much 
cannot  be  said  in  appreciation  of  the  loyal  and  sympathetic 
support  of  the  men  in  the  field  by  their  kindred  and  friends 
who  remained  at  home.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  women 
of  Galesburg  who  were  at  once  organized  as  .a  working  unit 
under  the  name  of  "The  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,"  working  as  sys- 
tematically, untiringly  and  effectively  as  do  the  women  of  to- 
day under  the  organization  of  the  Red  Cross. 

Again  and  yet  again  were  the  homes  of  Galesburg  and 
v'icinity  opened  to  receive  their  dying  and  their  dead,  but  still 
uniaunted  the  women  toiled  on,  making  garments,  scraping 
lint,  tilling  comfort  bags,  packing  boxes  of  supplies  of  all  kinds, 
and  writing  letters  to  the  soldiers  in  hospitals  and  camp. 

The  reports  which  have  been  preserved  of  the  activities 
of  "The  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  of  Galesburg"  and  its  auxiliaries 
speak  eloquently  and  thrillingly,  and  with  a  touching  pathos, 
of  the  work  of  the  mothers  and  sisters,  even  of  the  little  child- 
ren in  their  juvenile  societies,  for  the  relief  and  comfort  of  the 
brave  boys  in  blue  who  had  gone  out  from  their  midst.  The 
story  of  what  was  accomplished  for  their  aid  reads  like  a  ro- 
mance. (A  more  detailed  account  of  the  activities  of  the  women 
of  Galesburg  during  the  Civil  War  may  be  found  in  A.  J. 
Periy's  History  of  Knox  County,  in  the  section  entitled, 
"Woman's  Work  in  Knox  County,"  prepared  at  the  request  of 
Mr.  Perry  by  the  writer  of  these  annals) . 

Company  C — Illinois  National  Guards 

In  the  spring  of  1893  Galesburg  again  responded  to  our 
country's  call  for  the  defense  of  the  honor  of  the  government, 
in  the  war  which  is  known  in  histoiy  as  the  Spanish-American 
War. 

Company  C  of  the  6th  Regiment,  Illinois  National  Guards, 
an  organization  of  Galesburg  and  Knox  County  men;  a  thor- 
oughly organized,  well-drilled,  efficient  company  of  one  hun- 
dred men,  promptly  re.sponded  to  the  summons  and  held 
themselves  in  readiness  to  obey  marching  orders. 

On  the  evening  of  the  28th  of  April  they  were  entrained 
for  Springfield  with  the  expectation  that  they  would  soon  be 
called  into  active  service  in  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico. 

At  this  call  to  arms  the  whole  city  was  aroused  as  it  had 


94 

not  been  before  since  the  days  of  the  Civil  War.  A  great 
throng,  estimated  at  10,000  or  more  of  our  citizens,  gathered 
first  at  the  armory,  where  the  men  of  Company  C  were  assem- 
bled, and  again  at  the  Burlington  Station  where  the}"  were  to 
entrain,  to  give  them  last  messages  of  farewell  and  God-speed. 

According  to  an  account  of  the  event  given  in  the  columns 
of  the  Republican-Register  of  that  date,  "the  scene  growing 
out  of  their  departure  was  one  such  as  is  witnessed  but  few 
times  in  the  life  of  a  generation." 

On  July  26th  following,  colored  men  and  boys,  more  than 
a  score  in  number,  also  went  forth  into  their  country's  service, 
and  were  given  an  enthusiattic  send-off  by  the  citizens  of  the 
city. 

Company  C,  because  of  its  past  record  during  times  of 
strikes  and  riots,  and  also  because  of  its  manly  and  patriotic 
attitude  in  the  present  crisis,  was  one  of  whom  our  city  was 
justly  proud.  During  their  service  abroad,  which  happily 
proved  to  be  but  brief,  they  made  a  remarkable  record  in  more 
than  one  respect. 

After  some  weeks  spent  in  camp,  they  were  ranked  among 
the  best  of  the  Illinois  troops,  they  were  sent  across  to  Cuba 
to  have  a  hand  in  the  campaign  against  the  City  of  Santiago. 
With  other  picked  men  they  were  assigned  to  a  very  important 
duty  in  the  final  charge.  The  final  charge,  however,  never 
v/as  made,  because  of  the  surrender  of  the  city. 

Then  came  the  order  to  proceed  to  Porto  Rico  and  our  men 
were  among  the  first  of  the  American  troops  to  arrive  there. 
It  is  claimed  that  the  men  of  Company  C  were  the  very  first 
of  our  soldiers  to  set  foot  upon  that  island. 

They  took  part  in  the  campaign  there  and  although  the 
Company  suffered  no  loss  in  killed  or  wounded,  they  suffered 
greatly  from  diseases  incident  to  the  climate,  from  distress- 
ing unsanitary  conditions,  from  insufficient  and  improper  food 
and  from  lack  of  suitable  camping  privileges  and  equipment. 

Many  of  them  were  sick,  almost  unto  death,  and  all  of 
them  returned  emaciated  and  worn,  bearing  the  marks  of  great 
hardships  and  suffering. 

The  company  took  pait  in  but  one  battle,  that  of  July 
25th,  and  but  one  skirmish  on  the  following  day. 

After  four  months  of  service,  the  6th  Regiment  was 
ordered  home,  and  our  men  with  the  others  embarked  from 
Ponce,  Porto  Rico,  for  the  United  States. 

Naturally  there  was  great  rejoicing  when  the  news  came 
that  they  had  set  sail  for  home,  and  large  plans  were  la'd 
for  their  reception  upon  their  arrival  in  their  home  city. 


95 

They  arrived  on  Wednesday  September  21st,  amidst  the 
rejoicing  and  acclamations  of  thousands  of  citizens  who  had 
gathered  at  the  Burlington  Station  and  lined  the  streets  for 
blocks,  to  express  to  them  their  welcome  home. 

The  plans  which  had  previously  been  made  for  their  rece])- 
tion  were  successfully  carried  through  in  detail. 

They  included  a  banquet  given  them  at  the  Universalist 
Church  by  the  Army  and  Navy  League,  and  public  exercises  at 
the  First  M.  E.  Church,  with  addresses  of  welcome  and  appre- 
ciation by  Mayor  Cooke,  Congressman  Prince,  President  John 
H.  Finley  of  Knox  College,  Chaplain  Ferris  of  the  6th  Fvegi- 
ment,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Geistweit  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  and 
others.  Captain  T.  Leslie  McGirr,  who  so  successfully  led  his 
men  through  the  entire  campaign  that  they  returned  home 
without  the  loss  of  one,  was  called  upon  to  speak,  and  he  re- 
sponded in  behalf  of  his  company. 

His  men  enthusiastically  gave  him  three  cheers  as  he  arose 
to  speak  and  again  when  he  had  finished,  a  fine  tribute  to  his 
popularity  with  them. 

In  the  months  immediately  following  their  return  home 
other  courtesies  in  the  way  of  public  recognition  and  apprecia- 
tion were  extended  to  the  men  of  Company  C. 

Notable  among  these  was  an  elaborate  reception  and  din- 
ner given  by  the  Ladies'  Society  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  was  most  complete,  beautiful  and  soul-inspiring 
in  every  detail.  The  dining  hall  and  audience  room  in  the 
church  were  most  elaborately  and  appropriately  decorated  with 
the  national  colors,  artistically  arranged  in  many  unique  and 
beautiful  designs  expressive  of  the  welcome  of  the  church  to 
their  brothers  who  had  so  bravely  represented  them  in  the 
country's  hour  of  need. 

After  a  most  appetizing  dinner  during  which  hospitality 
and  good  cheer  abounded,  the  company  adjourned  to  the  aud- 
ience room  for  the  crowning  feature  of  this  delightful  occasion. 
This  consisted  of  speech-making,  gift-giving  and  singing  by  a 
male  quartette. 

Miss  Belle  Beatty  presided  during  the  evening's  program 
and  after  a  few  appropriate  words  of  welcome  and  appreciation 
for  their  honored  guests,  the  men  of  Company  C,  she  intro- 
duced Mrs.  George  A.  Lawrence,  the  President  of  the  Ladies' 
Society. 

Mrs.  Lawrence  made  an  address  to  the  men  which  was  re- 
plete with  patriotic  fervor  and  with  serious  and  convincing 
argument  and  utterance  regarding  the  obligations  and  the 
high  privileges  of  American  Citizenship,  she  warmly  com- 
mended the  part  which  they  had  so  nobly  played  in  fulfilling 


96 

such  obligations  and  rising  to  such  privileges.  After  referring 
to  the  military  maps,  charts  and  tactics  which  had  guided 
them  in  their  recent  campaign,  she  spoke  of  the  Bible  as  em- 
bodying in  its  teachings  the  only  sure  and  safe  chart  and  rule 
of  practice,  which  if  loyally  followed  would  successfully  guide 
one  through  the  great  battle  of  life. 

She  then  presented  to  the  Company,  a  large  and  beautiful 
Bible,  handsomely  bound  in  flexible  covers,  for  their  desk  at 
the  Company's  Headquarters. 

Needless  to  say,  the  address  made  a  deep  and  serious  im- 
pression upon  the  men,  and  the  gift  was  received  with  great 
applause. 

Mrs.  John  H.  Finley,  the  wife  of  President  Finley  of  Knox 
College,  then  addressed  them.  Her  remarks  very  fittingly  and 
skillfully  led  up  to  the  presentation  of  a  large  and  beautiful 
silk  flag  for  the  use  of  the  Company,  which  was  enthusiastic- 
ally received  by  them.  Mrs.  Finley  also  presented  to  each  one 
of  the  men  a  booklet  with  red  covers,  tied  with  blue  ribbon  in 
which  was  printed  upon  white  paper  in  blue  lettering,  a  poem 
written  by  Dr.  Finley,  descriptive  of  their  trip  to  Porto  Rico 
and  return. 

Captain  T.  L.  McGirr  fittingly  responded  to  all  these  cour- 
tesies and  accepted  the  gifts  in  behalf  of  the  men  of  Company 
C. 

Following  this.  Dr.  W.  Hamilton  Spence,  the  pastor  of  th( 
church,  made  the  address  of  the  evening,  which  was  character- 
istically eloquent,  inspiring  and  helpful. 

And  so  this  most  enjoyable  and  noteworthy  occasion  came 
to  a  close  as  a  befitting  climax  to  the  series  of  welcoming 
events  which  had  been  accorded  the  patriotic  men  of  Company 
C,  I.  N.  G. 

In  commemoration  of  the  part  which  Galesburg  took  in  the 
Spanish-American  War  our  city  takes  a  just  pride  in  a  fine  old 
Spanish  Cannon,  a  gift  from  the  U.  S.  Government  to  Post  45, 
G.  A.  R.,  through  whose  efforts,  ably  supplemented  by  the  per- 
sonal work  of  our  Congressman  George  W.  Prince,  this  sou- 
venir was  secured  from  the  authorities  at  Washington. 

It  was  given  by  the  government  to  Post  45,  G.  A.  R.,  and 
was  erected  by  the  city  upon  a  site  on  the  east  side  of  our  Cen- 
tral Park  at  the  head  of  Main  Street. 

This  cannon  is  made  of  the  finest  metal  and  was  cast  in 
Spain  in  1740.  It  was,  among  others,  sent  across  to  the  island 
just  previous  to  the  outbreak  of  the  war  to  help  in  the  rein- 
forcement of  the  fort  upon  San  Juan  Hill.  When  Col.  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  and  his  Rough  Riders  charged  up  the  hill  and 


97 

captured  the  fort,  thirteen  of  these  guns  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Americans  and  were  sent  to  Washington  as  trophies. 

The  inscription  upon  it  is  in  ancient  Latin,  and  at  the 
time  of  its  erection  in  our  park  the  inscription  was  trans- 
lated by  the  late  Professor  Albert  Hurd  of  Knox  College  and 
by  Dr.  J.  V.  N.  Standish,  an  accomplished  linquist  and  for  more 
than  forty  years  the  President  of  the  Park  Board. 

Galesburg-  "A  Convention  City" 

Many  patriotic  and  political  rallies,  especially  during  the 
period  of  the  Civil  War,  and  many  state  and  national  conven- 
tions have  chosen  Galesburg  as  a  rallying  point  because  of  its 
importance  and  influence  both  as  to  its  advantageous  location 
and  as  to  those  great  moral  and  educational  forces  which  make 
for  the  well-being  of  a  nation  and  which  this  community,  in 
years  gone  by,  has  possessed  in  full  measure. 

Galesburg-  Made  the  County  Seat 

In  the  year  1873  the  County  Seat  was  removed  from  Knox- 
ville  to  Galesburg.  This  action  followed  a  long  controversy 
during  which  rival  claims  for  the  honor  of  being  the  executive 
center  of  the  county  were  vigorously  supported  by  opposing 
factions  representing  Knoxville  and  Galesburg.  Up  to  that 
date  the  County  seat  had  been  located  in  Knoxville,  which^  be- 
cause of  its  beautiful  situation  and  its  honorable  record  as  a 
community,  was  eminently  worthy  of  the  distinction.  But  it 
suffered  the  disadvantage  of  remoteness  from  the  more  popu- 
lous sections  of  the  county  and  from  the  superior  railroad  facil- 
ities which  Galesburg  enjoyed  because  of  being  an  important 
division  station  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  road. 
Moreover  Galesburg  was  more  accessible  as  a  distributing  cen- 
ter for  the  products  of  the  rich  agricultural  areas  of  the  county. 
All  things  considered  it  was  in  every  respect  better  situated  to 
be  the  seat  of  government,  and  the  better  judgment  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  county  finally  prevailed,  the  majority  voting  in 
favor  of  the  transfer.  This  decision  was  of  course  in  every 
way  advantageous  to  Galesburg,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  a 
matter  of  regret  that  the  civic  prosperity  of  Knoxville  suffered 
in  consequence.  The  change  of  location  necessitated  the  build- 
ing of  a  new  court  house,  and  this  was  accomplished  in  the 
years  1884-86. 

A  stately,  handsome,  and  well  equipped  building  was 
erected  in  the  east  half  of  the  city  park  which  was  donated  by 
the  city  for  that  purpose.  The  business  of  the  county  has  al- 
ready outgrown  the  capacity  of  this  large  structure,  and  plans 
are  maturing  for  its  enlargement  and  improvement. 

Industrial  Development 

The  manufacturing  industries  of  Galesburg  had  their  be- 


98 

ginning  in  the  little  machine  and  repair  shop  of  J.  P.  Frost,  one 
of  the  colonists  of  the  spring  of  1837.  His  small  venture  has 
increased  and  developed  throughout  the  years  and  is  now 
known  as  the  Frost  Manufacturing  Company,  which  ships  the 
output  of  its  great  machine  and  boiler  shops  to  all  parts  of  the 
United  States  and  to  many  foreign  lands.  Around  this  have 
sprung  up  factories  and  shops  of  various  kinds  suited  to  com- 
mercial and  household  needs  till  there  are  now  about  50  manu- 
facturing establishments  in  our  city.  The  number  includes 
machine,  boiler  and  repair  shops,  planing  mills,  flour  mills,  gar- 
ment factories,  automobile  factories,  welding  works,  Coulter 
Disc  works,  rug  factories,  candy  and  ice  cream  factories,  both 
wholesale  and  retail,  bottling  works,  etc.,  etc. 

Galesburg  As  A  Music  Center 

Galesburg  has  always  been  at  the  fore-front  as  a  musical 
center.  At  a  very  early  date  in  its  history  it  commenced  its 
musical  career  under  the  instruction  and  leadership  of  Samuel 
Bacon. 

This  Prince  of  Music  Masters,  sweet  singer  and  skillful 
violinist,  came  at  regular  intervals  to  give  instruction  to  large 
classes,  or  "schools"  as  they  were  then  called  and  to  give  con- 
certs and  lead  choruses  to  the  delight  of  enthusiastic  pupils  and 
an  appreciative  community.  He  was  the  predecessor  of  men  of 
no  mean  reputation  in  the  field  of  musical  leadership.  One  by 
one  they  have  had  their  day  and  passed  on,  using  their  own 
methods,  winning  their  own  honors,  and  leaving  each  his  own 
impress  upon  a  large  and  enthusiastic  following. 

Knox  Conservatory  of  Music 

Last,  but  by  no  means  least  among  them  is  our  own  Prof. 
Wm.  F.  Bentley,  who  for  thirty-three  years  has  been  the  popu- 
lar director  of  the  Knox  Conservatory  of  Music  and  the  sup- 
porter, promoter  and  director  of  the  musical  activities  of  Gales- 
burg. Under  Dr.  Bentley's  efficient  management  the  Knox 
Conservatory  of  Music  has  become  one  of  the  leading  musical 
institutions  of  the  state  and  its  graduates  have  become  prom- 
inent as  musical  educators  and  artists  all  over  the  United 
States. 

Other  Schools  of  Music 

There  have  recently  been  established  two  other  schools  of 
music  in  Galesburg,  one  in  connection  with  the  "School  of 
Three  Arts"  at  Lombard  College  under  the  direction  of  Madame 
Anna  Groff  Bryant,  and  the  other  "The  Maude  Alma  Main 
School  of  Fine  Arts,"  founded  and  conducted  by  Miss  Main. 
The  success  and  reputation  of  all  these  schools  have  been 
greatly  enhanceed  by  the  able  co-operatin  of  an  efficient  corps 
of  teachers  in  each  department  of  the  different  schools. 

Especially  is  this  true  in  the  Knox  Conservatory  of  Music, 


99 

where  John  Winter  Thompson,  Mus.  D.,  head  of  the  Organ  and 
Theory  Department,  and  Miss  Blanche  M.  Boult,  Professor  of 
Pianoforte,  have  been  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  or  more  Dr. 
Bentley's  loyal  colleagues. 

And  so  through  the  medium  of  these  annals  we  have 
brought  our  favored  city  adown  the  "long,  long  trail"  which 
has  been  blazed  for  us  by  a  succession  of  historic  events  from 
the  beginning  to  the  present  time.  It  would  have  been  pleasant 
sometimes  to  take  the  more  devious  route,  to  discover  the  hid- 
den trails,  to  linger  by  the  way-side  gathering  souvenirs  of  the 
past  and  to  revel  among  the  fascinating  romances  which  "half 
concealed  and  half  revealed"  have  beckoned  to  us  here  and 
there  as  alluring  possibilities  in  the  pioneer  experiences  of  our 
colonists  and  their  descendants.  But  these  are  forbidden  indul- 
gences. The  journey  has  been  a  pleasant  one  although  the 
enjoyment  has  been  tinged  with  regret  that  many  persons 
places,  objects  and  events  which  were  worthy  of  remembrance 
have  been  passed  without  mention  because  of  lack  of  space; 
and  we  regretfully  leave  them  to  the  chroniclers  of  the  future. 

With  congratulations  to  all  who  have  in  any  way  contri- 
buted to  that  which  has  already  been  achieved,  and  with  a  chal- 
lenge to  our  city  to  see  to  it  that  the  future  shall  witness  still 
better  and  greater  achievements,  we  leave  her  to  the  enjoyment 
of  her  many  privileges  and  unusual  opportunities,  her  churches 
and  colleges,  her  schools  and  happy  homes,  her  exceptional 
musical  advantages,  her  literary  and  social  prestige,  her  com- 
mercial and  industrial  advancement,  her  superior  facilities  for 
travel  and  transportation ;  and  all  things  else  that  have  con- 
tributed to  the  development  of  Galesburg  into  a  city  fitted  to 
be  the  seat  of  the  legislative  and  executive  activities  of  our  rich 
and  prosperous  counuty  of  Knox  of  the  great  state  of  Illinois 
in  this  her  centennial  anniversary  of  A.  D.  1918. 


100 

HAW  CREEK 

By  Wm.  Scott. 

In  attempting  to  write  the  annals  of  Haw  Creek  Township, 
Knox  County,  Illinois,  the  writer  of  this  short  sketch  will  be 
somewhat  handicapped  as  to  the  early  history  of  the  same. 

After  having  served  two  terms  of  enlistment  in  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  in  Ohio  organizations,  and  after  having  been 
discharged  from  said  service  in  June,  1865,  came  to  Illinois  in 
October,  same  year,  and  located  in  Haw  Creek  Township,  En- 
tering school  in  Hedding  College,  Abingdon,  Illinois,  the  winter 
term  of  1865,  remained  in  same  school  (excepting  vacations) 
until  the  late  fall  of  1866,  when  he  began  District  school  teach- 
ing and  continued  in  that  Profession  until  the  ending  of  the 
school  year,  1878,  embarking  in  the  Mercantile  business  in 
Gilson,  111,,  March  1878 ;  ran  a  general  merchandise  business 
for  over  forty  years. 

In  order  to  obtain  anything  like  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
Haw  Creek's  early  histoiy  the  writer  will  have  to  glean  his 
knowledge  from  various  sources.  He  will  in  some  instances 
have  to  refer  to  a  former  history  written  in  1899  by  C.  W. 
McKown,  of  Gilson,  (now  deceased). 

In  attempting  to  answer  the  questions  of  the  committee 
who  have  this  matter  under  consideration  will  say  that  veiy 
little  is  known  of  the  first  inhabitants  of  this  Township,  I  now 
refer  to  the  Redmen  or  Indians  of  the  forest  and  prairies  of 
Illinois,  There  are  evidences  in  Haw  Creek  Township  that  the 
Redmen  at  one  time  roamed  over  our  prairies  hunting  the  game 
that  was  plenteous  and  fishing  in  our  principal  river,  (the 
Spoon),  which  at  that  time  abounded  with  vast  numbers  of 
fine  fish. 

The  population  at  the  present  time  consists  almost  wholly 
of  native  born  inhabitants  of  Haw  Creek.  Most  of  the  early 
settlers  came  from  Ohio,  We  note  from  the  former  histoiy 
referred  to,  that  the  first  White  settler  in  Haw  Creek  was 
Mrs,  Elizabeth  Owens,  accompanied  by  her  son  Parnach  Owens, 
the  settlement  was  made  in  1829  on  Section  18.  In  1834,  other 
settlers  came  from  Ohio  and  settled  in  this  township.  Among 
those  families  were  John  Scott,  Zephaniah  Scott  and  Jacob 
Harshbarger,  About  the  same  time  also  came  the  following 
families  and  located  in  Haw  Creek,  these  were  James  Nevitt, 
Samuel  Slocum,  David  Teel  and  David  Enochs.  They  were  soon 
followed  by  Woodford  Pierce,  David  Housh,  Joshua  Burnett 
and  Lineas  Richmond,  William  Dickerson  and  others,  so  that  in 
1835  there  was  quite  a  settlement  in  Haw  Creek,  all  coming 
from  Southern  Ohio,  Highland  and  Jackson  counties. 

The  first  white  child  born  in  Haw  Creek  was  a  son  to 


101 

James  Nevitt  and  wife,  soon  after  locating  in  their  new  home. 
The  first  death  in  the  township  was  that  of  Eleanor  Jarnigan, 
1834.  First  sermon  preached  by  the  noted  Rev.  Peter  Cart- 
right,  1831. 

After  the  settlement  of  Haw  Creek  there  were  no  Churches 
but  services  were  held  in  the  homes  of  the  fanners.  The  Rev. 
Peter  Cartright,  Richard  Haney  (Uncle  Dick)  and  William 
Clarke  officiated  at  the  services  held  in  the  farm  houses.  The 
first  denomination  in  the  field  was  the  Methodist  Episcopal, 
afterwards  followed  by  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ.  After 
the  erection  of  school  houses  the  religious  services  were  held 
in  them.  The  first  regular  church  built  in  Haw  Creek  was 
Clark's  Chapel,  Section  17,  built  in  1864,  since  discontinued. 
There  are  at  present  three  churches  in  the  township,  the  Meth- 
odist in  Gilson,  built  in  1865 ;  the  Gilson  United  Brethren,  built 
in  1866.  The  value  of  each  church  when  built  was  not  over 
$1,200,  but  now  $2,500  would  not  replace  them  and  their  furn- 
ishings. The  other  church  referred  to  is  a  United  Brethren  lo- 
cated in  Section  3,  known  as  Union  or  Wolfs  Chapel,  at  a  value 
of  $1,500.  They  are  all  of  them  well  kept  up  and  in  good  con- 
dition. The  present  ministers  are:  Methodist,  Rev.  E.  B.  Mor- 
ton; United  Brethren,  Rev.  Jay  A.  Smith,  each  of  them  live 
wires. 

As  to  the  first  school  house  built  in  the  township,  I  am  not 
able  to  say,  but  I  presume  it  was  the  log  structure  erected  on 
the  Northwest  Quarter  of  Section  15.  The  first  school  in  the 
township  was  taught  by  Miss  Susan  Dempsey  in  1836,  who 
afterward  became  the  wife  of  Booker  Pickrel.  The  school  sys- 
tem of  Haw  Creek  is  up  to  that  of  average  of  other  townships 
in  the  county.  We  have  nine  districts  with  that  of  Gilson, 
which  is  a  graded  school,  besides  we  have  the  Haw  Creek  Town- 
ship High  School  with  three  teachers.  Classes  in  this  school  are 
regularly  graduated  after  a  four  years  prescribed  course  by 
the  efficient  School  Board.  None  but  good  and  efficient 
teachers  are  emploj^ed  in  any  of  the  schools  of  the  Township. 

The  methods  of  travel  are  varied  at  the  present  time.  But 
the  early  methods  were  principally  by  wagon  and  carriage. 
Before  the  days  of  the  railroad  the  farm  produce  was  hauled 
by  wagon  to  Peoria  and  Chicago ;  principally  to  Peoria,  wagons 
loaded  back  with  groceries  and  merchandise  of  various  kinds. 

The  first  store  in  the  township  was  conducted  by  Edmond 
Smith  at  Mechanicsburg,  southwest  of  Gilson  three-fourths 
miles  on  Section  18.  This  store  was  of  a  general  stock.  The  C. 
B.  &  Q.  railroad  was  surveyed  and  built  in  1856.  In  1857  the 
Village  of  Gilson  was  surveyed  and  regularly  established  on 
the  southeast  one-fourth  section  7  by  Lineas  Richmond  and 
James  Gilson,  after  whom  the  village  was  named.    Ever  since 


102 

Gilson  was  established  it  has  been  a  good  trading  point  for  the 
sale  of  farm  produce,  such  as  all  kinds  of  grains  and  stock. 
Gilson  at  present  has  a  population  of  200.  Three  general  stores 
in  the  town,  all  seem  to  do  a  good  business,  one  elevator  and  one 
lumber  yard,  one  blacksmith  shop  and  one  general  repair  shop, 
post  office  and  one  rural  delivery. 

The  only  mill  of  an  early  date  was  a  large  grist  mill  on 
Section  34  on  Spoon  River,  known  in  1865  as  the  Burnett  Mill. 
It  did  a  very  fine  business  when  first  built  but  was  abandoned 
about  twenty  years  ago  on  account  of  a  lack  of  power  for  only 
about  six  months  in  the  year.  There  was  also  a  saw  mill 
erected  on  Haw  Creek  2  miles  southwest  of  Gilson  which  did  a 
very  good  business  for  several  years. 

The  organization  of  the  township  was  effected  on  April  5, 
1853.    This  organization  took  place  at  the  Nevitt  school  house, 

southwest  of  Gilson  two  and  one-half  miles.  The  following 
officers  were  elected:  William  M.  Clarke,  Supervisor,  Wood- 
ford Pierce,  Clerk ;  Isaac  Lott,  Assessor ;  Joseph  Harshbarger, 
Collector;  Jacob  Wolf,  Overseer  of  the  Poor;  John  S.  Linn  and 
Enoc  Godfrey,  Justices  of  the  Peace ;  Geo.  Pickrel  and  William 
Lewis,  Constables ;  Milton  Lotts,  Allen  T.  Rambo  and  Benoni 
Simpkins,  Commissioners  of  Highways.  The  present  officers 
follow:  C.  H.  Upp,  Supervisor;  Clark  H.  Snow,  Assessor;  C. 
L.  Dossett,  Overseer  of  Poor;  C.  H.  Upp  (by  virtue  of  office) 
Justice  of  Peace ;  Earl  Snell,  Constable ;  John  Housh  and  H.  L. 
Connor,  Commissioner  of  Highways,  Ben  Taylor.  With  my 
limited  knowledge,  prior  to  1865,  I  am  unable  to  give  the  loca- 
tion of  the  first  farm  and  how  cultivated,  but  I  should  judge 
that  the  method  of  cultivation  was  principally  by  the  one  and 
two-horse  cultivators,  as  a  great  many  of  these  settlers  were 
from  Ohio  and  there  they  had  to  use  the  one  and  two  horse 
cultivators,  on  account  of  the  stumps  and  roots  in  the  ground. 
Much  improvement  has  been  made  in  this  part  of  the  country 
in  the  farming  line  in  the  manner  of  preparing  the  seed  bed  be- 
fore planting  or  sowing  the  seed.  The  farm  tractor  is  just  now 
coming  into  use  in  Haw  Creek.  It  may  eventually  take  the 
place  of  horses  in  the  extra  heavy,  hard  and  hot  work. 

The  homes  of  the  farmers  and  laboring  class  are  much 
better  furnished  of  late  years  than  formerly,  and  I  attribute 
that  to  the  younger  generation.  The  better  educated,  the  more 
up-to-date  they  wish  to  become  and  when  that  is  uppermost  in 
the  mind  of  the  younger  class,  something  is  going  to  happen 
and  that  something  is  to  have  a  home  better  equipped. 

Early  pastimes  and  amusements  were  as  follows:  Celebra- 
tions, which  usually  occurred  on  Holidays ;  Spelling  Schools, 
Singing  schools,  Corn  huskings,  Log  rollings  and  Quilting  Bees. 

The  township  at  the  present  time  is  in  a  very  good  and 


103 

prosperous  condition  owing  to  the  extra  good  crops  and  the  ex- 
tremely high  prices  obtained  for  all  kinds  of  farm  commodities. 
The  population  of  the  township,  as  near  as  we  can  estimate  it, 
is  1,080. 

The  first  good  farm  house  built  in  the  township  was  that 
of  James  Nevitt  in  1835.  First  brick  house  built  by  Woodford 
Pierce  in  1836  on  Section  7,  Northeast  Quarter.  First  post  of- 
fice established  May  7,  1852,  and  named  by  the  Government, 
Haw  Creek.  The  post  office  was  in  the  general  store  at  Me- 
chanicsburg,  run  by  Edmond  Smith.  The  first  postmaster  was 
Joseph  Harshbarger  and  was  succeeded  by  Allen  T.  Rambo, 
Sept.  16,  1852.  The  latter  was  succeeded  by  Woodford  Pierce 
in  March  17,  1855.  On  March  5,  1857,  the  office  was  removed 
to  Gilson  which  then  was  a  railroad  station.  Mechanicsburg 
then  going  out  of  existence  as  a  village. 

I  wish  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  the  former  his- 
torian of  the  township,  Mr.  C.  W.  McKown,  for  my  knowledge 
of  the  organization  of  the  township,  also  the  first  officers  of 
the  same  and  also  for  the  first  post  office  and  first  postmaster 
of  the  township. 

I  also  wish  to  relate  a  couple  of  instances  relating  to  the 
Rev.  William  M.  Clarke  and  Rev.  Richard  Haney,  the  founders 
of  Methodism  in  Haw  Creek.  In  the  early  settlement  of  Knox 
County  and  Haw  Creek  the  Rev.  William  M.  Clarke  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Conference  to  the  Knoxville  Circuit,  which  con- 
sisted at  that  time  of  three  or  more  appointments.  At  that 
time  he  was  living  on  his  farm,,  just  east  of  the  old  Gilson 
Camp  Grounds,  where  the  Methodist  church  held  their  Camp 
Meetings  for  so  many  years.  After  he  had  taken  charge  of  the 
Knoxville  Circuit  he  called  the  official  Board  together  and  con- 
tracted with  them  for  his  year's  salary,  which  was  not  an 
overly  large  one.  The  Board  agreed  to  pay  his  salary  regu- 
larly as  he  had  a  large  family  to  support  and  the  salary  would 
be  needed  to  support  them.  He  had  preached  for  them  a  part 
of  the  year  and  the  good  brothers  had  failed  on  their  part  of 
the  contract.  He  called  the  Board  together  and  stated  to  them 
that  he  was  in  need  of  the  money  for  the  support  of  his 
family.  They  made  him  a  good  promise,  but  failed  to  carry  it 
out,  so  Uncle  Billy,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  called  the  offi- 
cial Board  together  again.  He  said  to  them:  "Brethren,  you 
have  not  treated  me  right  in  the  matter  of  filling  your  obliga- 
tion to  me  in  the  matter  of  salary.  I  have  endeavored  to  do 
my  best  for  you  in  the  matter  of  Pastorial  work,  but  you  have 
utterly  failed  to  keep  your  part  of  the  contract,  so,  I  am  going 
to  tell  you  something  which  is  not  very  pleasant  for  me,  'You 
can  all  go  to  the  devil  and  I  will  go  back  to  the  farm ;'  "  and  he 
went. 

I  now  wish  to  relate  an  incident  in  which  Uncle  Dick  Haney 


104 

was  interested.  He  was  preaching  at  a  farm  house  in  the  early 
settlement  of  Haw  Creek  and  in  those  days  window  glass  was 
a  very  scarce  article.  In  the  absence  of  glass  a  white  greased 
paper  was  tacked  to  a  frame  and  used  as  a  sash  in  the  window 
frame.  Uncle  Dick  said  at  this  farm  house  he  was  delivering 
his  sermon  in  his  best  possible  manner,  he  had  taken  his  posi- 
tion close  to  the  windows  supplied  with  the  greased  paper. 
When  he  was  at  his  best  in  the  discourse  he  heard  a  commo- 
tion on  the  outside  of  the  house,  which  proved  to  be  a  fracas 
between  the  cat  and  dog  belonging  to  the  premises.  He  said  he 
was  doing  his  best  in  the  way  of  the  delivery  of  his  discourse, 
when  the  noise  increased  all  at  once,  pussy  to  escape  the  dog 
sprung  directly  through  the  greased  paper  in  the  window 
alighting  directly  in  front  of  Uncle  Dick.  Afterwards  in  speak- 
ing about  the  incident  he  said  it  was  always  a  question  in  his 
mind  what  he  should  call  it ;  whether  a  Dogmatical  or  a  Cate- 
gorical problem. 

At  another  time  of  his  preaching  at  a  farm  house,  and  the 
good  sister  of  the  house  had  no  place  to  keep  her  well  filled 
milk  crocks,  only  on  a  bench  placed  at  one  end  of  the  room,  in 
which  the  services  were  being  held.  Uncle  Dick  said  he  took 
his  position  close  to  the  milk  bench,  he  stated  when  he  warmed 
up  in  his  sermon  and  using  all  the  oratory  he  could  com- 
mand, making  all  the  gestures  that  was  possible  for  him  to 
make  and  giving  it  all  the  force  and  power  he  could,  at  this 
point  he  noticed  a  peculiar  sensation  in  one  of  his  lower  limbs. 
When  he  cast  his  eyes  in  that  direction,  he  discovered  that  his 
coat  tail  had  completely  skimmed  one  of  the  good  sister's 
crocks  of  milk  and  the  cream  was  running  down  the  calves  of 
his  legs  and  filling  his  shoes. 


105 

HENDERSON  TOWNSHIP 

By  Susan  McMurtry 

It  is  meet  and  seemly  that  some  permanent  record  be 
placed  in  the  archives  of  the  Centennial  History  of  Illinois  of 
the  citizens  of  Henderson,  who  have  been  identified  with  the 
early  history  of  Knox  county  and  been  prominent  in  the  up- 
holding of  the  commonwealth  that  those  who  came  after  them 
may  know  to  whom  they  are  indebted  for  the  benefits  they  now 
enjoy.  We  are  all  debtors  to  the  honored  and  useful  lives  of 
those  brave  pioneers,  who  blazed  and  prepared  the  way  for 
coming  generations. 

The  distinct  personality  of  this  locality  in  the  history  of 
our  state  and  county  arouses  in  us  a  feeling  of  pride  in  our 
past,  because  our  earliest  settlers  exercised  a  great  influence 
that  has  been  a  great  value  to  humanity.  The  future  of  Knox 
county  and  Henderson  in  no  small  part  lay  in  the  hands  of 
those  early  pioneers.  A  future  full  of  hardships  but  also  full 
of  hope. 

In  writing  the  early  history  of  this  particular  locality,  one 
is  obliged  to  ignore  much  that  must  naturally  come  in  other 
parts  of  this  history.  We  find  we  have  to  tell  the  history  of 
the  state  or  the  history  of  the  county,  not  the  history  of  Hen- 
derson township.  Take  the  important  figures  in  the  history  of 
this  region  during  the  earlier  period  and  you  will  find  they  do 
not  belong  particularly  to  Henderson,  but  to  the  greater  areas 
of  which  this  place  is  but  a  small  part. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  whence  came  the  first 
settlers  ?  What  conditions  drove  them  to  face  the  hardships 
and  privations  of  the  frontier  to  make  new  homes. 

It  has  been  said  that  before  the  railroads  emigration 
moved  on  parallels  of  latitude.  This  was  never  more  clearly 
illustrated  than  in  the  early  settlement  of  Knox  county.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  the  majority  of  the  early  settlers  were  either 
natives  or  descendants  of  natives  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Many  of  them  had  ancestors  who 
were  also  pioneers  in  these  same  states.  Some  came  from  the 
eastern  states.  They  were  extraordinary  people,  courageous, 
hardy,  intelligent,  honest,  industrious,  honorable,  patriotic  and 
God-fearing.  A  more  self-reliant  set  of  men  and  women  never 
trod  the  earth.  The  immigrants  who  were  to  settle  Henderson 
crossed  the  Ohio  river  in  their  covered  wagons  (prairie  schoon- 
ers), with  a  jerk  line  in  one  hand  and  a  rifle  in  the  other,  a  few 
coming  by  horseback  or  by  foot.  Conditions  in  Kentucky  and 
other  southern  states  drove  the  small  farmer  to  emigrate. 

To  us  of  the  later  generations  who  view  these  fertile  fields 
of  grain  in  all  directions  and  know  of  the  great  wealth  above 


106 

and  below  the  ground,  it  seems  strange  there  was  not  a  rush  of 
settlers  into  this  region  in  spite  of  the  natural  inference  that 
the  land  that  could  not  produce  trees  must  be  worthless  as 
farm  land,  which  has  proved  in  the  end  to  be  the  richest  pos- 
session of  our  "Prairie  State." 

When  we  consider  that  Daniel  Robertson  and  his  brother, 
Alexander,  the  first  settlers  in  Henderson  township,  did  not 
come  until  1828,  when  Illinois  had  been  a  state  ten  years,  one 
naturally  asks  why  it  was  that  a  locality  full  of  possibilities 
was  not  settled  at  an  earlier  date?  There  were  many  influ- 
ences to  retard  immigration ;  the  actual  opening  of  land  offices, 
the  promised  land  sales,  the  extinguishing  of  Indian  titles,  the 
limited  means  of  travel,  the  Indians  themselves,  and  others  no 
less  important. 

The  early  settlers  of  Henderson  invariably  located  in  the 
timber  or  along  its  border.  This  is  not  so  strange  when  we 
consider  that  these  pioneers  mostly  had  been  brought  up  in  the 
shelter  of  the  woods.  This  nearness  to  the  timber  was  an  ad- 
vantage in  many  ways.  It  furnished  material  for  their  log 
houses,  fuel  for  their  fireplaces,  meat  for  their  food,  and  shel- 
ter from  the  fierce  cold  winds  in  winter,  which  often  caused  a 
great  deal  of  suffering.  The  first  settlers  were  verj^  fond  of 
hunting  and  many  interesting  stories  are  told  of  them  in  quest 
of  wild  turkey,  prairie  chicken  and  deer. 

First  Settled 

Henderson  was  the  first  township  in  Knox  county  to  be 
settled  by  white  men.  It  is  well  watered  by  the  branches  which 
make  up  the  head  waters  of  Henderson  river.  Along  these 
branches  originally  stood  one  of  the  finest  groves  of  timber  to 
be  found  anywhere  in  Illinois.  Here  was  a  favorite  place  for 
Indians,  who  had  extensive  fields  of  corn  on  Sections  23  and 
26,  south  of  the  village  of  Henderson.  These  Indians  were 
friendly  and  remained  till  the  breaking  out  of  the  Black  Hawk 
War,  when  they  left  without  doing  any  serious  harm. 

Alexander  and  Daniel  Robertson,  two  Scotch  brothers,  left 
their  father's  home  in  Morgan  county,  Illinois,  and  came  to 
Schuyler  county,  where  they  remained  one  year.  In  February, 
1828,  they  set  out,  each  riding  an  old  mare  and  carrying  a  gun 
and  ax,  came  to  Henderson  township  and  settled  first  on  Sec- 
tion 15.  Daniel  22,  and  Alexander  20  years  of  age  and  single. 
Here  they  built  their  first  log  house  together.  This  house 
stood  east  of  the  creek  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  a  short  distance 
south  of  the  wagon  road  and  was  about  midway  between  where 
is  now  the  Rio  Branch  of  the  C,  B.  &  Q.  railroad  and  the  State 
Aid  road.  The  Robertsons  lived  here  several  years  together, 
till  their  land  was  claimed  by  a  speculator  named  Baker. 
During  the  discussion  over  the  possession  of  the  land  Baker 


107 

shot  at  Daniel  but  missed  him.  The  later  went  to  the  cabin  for 
his  gun,  but  was  persuaded  by  his  wife  to  make  no  further 
trouble.  The  Robertsons  gave  up  this  land  and  settled  on  the 
southwest  comer  of  Section  11.  Here  they  built  their  second 
log  house,  which  stood  across  the  road  and  northeast  of  the 
first,  where  Daniel  lived  most  of  his  life.  About  1836,  Alexan- 
der settled  and  built  a  log  house  on  Section  2,  where  he  lived 
till  his  death  in  1853. 

During  the  next  spring  and  summer  others  came,  among 
them,  Jacob  Gum,  a  Baptist  minister,  who  preached  the 
first  sermon  in  1829,  at  the  residence  of  his  son,  John  B.  Gum, 
on  Section  32.  This  two-roomed  log  house  was  the  first  county 
court  house.  Here  the  first  circuit  court  was  held  October  1, 
1830.  The  judge  presiding  was  the  Hon.  Richard  M.  Young, 
afterward  United  States  Senator.  Here  also  the  first  county 
election  was  held,  Mr.  Gum  being  elected  the  first  county 
treasurer. 

The  son  of  Zephaniah  Gum  and  grandson  of  John  B.  Gum 
was  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  county. 

Riggs  Pennington  came  about  this  time,  who  became  one 
of  the  most  prominent  men  of  northern  Illinois.  Phillip  Hash 
and  Chas.  Hansford.  These  three  were  the  first  county  com- 
missioners after  the  actual  organization  in  1830.  Stephen  Os- 
bom,  the  first  sheriff;  Parnac  Owen,  the  first  county  sur- 
veyor; Alex.  Frakes,  Major  Thomas  McKee,  Robert  and  Eaton 
Nance,  who  settled  on  Section  9. 

The  first  death  in  the  county  was  that  of  a  young  man, 
Philip  Nance,  which  occurred  January  9th,  1829,  in  Henderson 
township,  and  was  buried  on  Section  9.  Major  McKee,  who 
came  the  fall  before,  was  present  at  his  death  and  funeral  and 
was  instrumental  in  erecting  a  suitable  stone  at  his  grave.  A 
few  years  later,  the  people  of  the  vicinity  of  Henderson  raised 
money  and  erected  an  iron  fence  around  his  grave. 

The  Black  Hawk  War 

The  next  year,  1829,  the  brothers,  William  and  James  Mc- 
Murtry  and  their  families,  came  in  November  and  settled  on 
Section  3,  on  a  quarter  bought  of  Riggs  Pennington,  paying 
$1.25  per  acre;  but  afterward  had  to  repurchase  to  secure  a 
clear  title.  It  was  on  their  farm  on  the  northeast  40  acres  of 
Section  10,  that  the  entire  neighborhood  assisted  in  building  a 
fort,  which  would  protect  them  from  the  Indians.  Into  this 
the  surrounding  families  before  and  during  the  Black  Hawk 
War  would  often  gather.  While  there  were  often  rumors  of 
Indian  uprisings,  and  the  settlers  were  constantly  on  the  watch 
for  them,  they  were  never  molested  by  them.  A  company  of 
rangers  was  organized  by  Wm.  McMurtry,  who  was  their  cap- 
tain, to  be  ready  to  pursue  the  Indians  in  all  directions  if 


108 

needed.  In  1832,  James  McMurtry,  accompanied  by  F.  Free- 
man and  Thomas  McKee  went  to  Rock  Island  for  guns  to  pro- 
tect the  settlers  during  the  Black  Hawk  War.  They  secured 
100,  which  were  sent  down  the  river  as  far  as  Ruthsbury,  and 
from  there  by  teams  to  his  home,  where  they  were  distributed 
to  the  settlers.  He  sei*\'ed  during  the  Black  Hawk  War  under 
Major  Butler.  The  pioneers,  Wm.  and  James  McMurtry,  were 
descended  from  pioneer  ancestors.  Their  grandfather,  Captain 
John  McMurtry,  was  a  pioneer  in  the  state  of  Kentucky,  along 
with  Daniel  Boone  and  others.  He  made  the  stones  and  the 
first  mill  for  grinding  com  meal  in  Kentucky,  He  was  killed 
fighting  the  Indians  as  Captain  of  Kentucky  militia  in  1790. 
William  McMurtry  became  quite  an  active  and  prominent  poli- 
tician. He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  principles  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  and  a  friend  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  It  was 
largely  through  him  that  the  history  of  Henderson  is  so  closely 
connected  with  the  early  history  of  the  county  and  the  state. 
He  was  active  in  the  organization  of  Henderson  township,  April 
5,  1853.  In  1832,  he  was  appointed  first  county  commissioner  of 
school  lands.  This  office  he  held  till  his  resignation  in  1840, 
his  chief  duty  being  to  sell  the  school  section  in  each  township 
and  later  to  distribute  interest  money  to  the  teachers  from  the 
school  fund..  He  always  took  an  active  interest  in  the  early 
schools,  sold  the  school  lands,  invested  the  money  and  advanced 
the  educational  interests  of  the  county  very  much.  He  was 
keenly  awake  to  public  needs,  and  had  an  eye  to  the  interests 
of  the  people.  Thus  his  name  was  brought  before  them  as  a 
candidate  for  office  in  the  state.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  during  the  years  1836-37  and  1838-39 ;  State  Sen- 
ator up  to  the  time  he  was  elected  Lieutenant-Governor  with 
Gov.  French  in  1848.  In  1862  he  was  commissioned  Colonel  of 
the  102  Illinois  Voluntaiy  Infantry.  After  serving  a  short 
time  in  Kentucky  he  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health  and  was 
honorably  discharged.  The  McMurtrys  were  natives  of  Ken- 
tucky. They  lived  and  died  on  the  farms  on  which  thev  first 
settled  in  1829. 

In  1830,  Thomas  Furguson,  Roundtrees,  Goffs,  Lewis  and 
Davis  with  their  families  came  in  locating  along  the  south  side 
of  the  grove.  Following  them  were  the  Browns,  settling  along 
the  old  "Galena  Trail." 

Peter  Bell,  Thomas  Maxwell,  Squire  Reed  and  James  Rey- 
nolds also  moved  in  in  1830.  During  1831-32  a  number  of  fam- 
ilies came.  Among  these  were  the  Ferrises,  who  put  up  a  saw 
mill  on  Henderson  Creek ;  Rees  Jones,  who  built  the  first  grist 
mill,  in  1830,  on  Henderson  Creek.  These  mills  were  great 
events  to  the  pioneers  and  they  felt  now  they  had  all  they 
needed. 


109 

Galesburg  Colony  Came 

In  1836  the  first  of  the  Galesburg  Colony  came,  locating 
south  of  the  grove  and  built  up  what  afterwards  became  known 
as  Log  City,  on  Section  33.  This  settlement  was  only  tempor- 
ary and  does  not  strictly  belong  to  Henderson  township,  but 
more  to  Galesburg  where  they  finally  settled. 

The  first  few  years  the  settlers  had  to  go  to  Rushville 
for  their  mail,  about  75  miles.  Here  Alex  Osborn  was  obliged 
to  go  for  his  license  to  marry  Ann  Hendricks.  This  was  the 
first  marriage  ceremony  in  Knox  county.  Philip  Hash,  the 
first  Justice  of  the  Peace,  officiated. 

In  1833  the  first  postoffice  in  the  county  was  established 
on  Section  32,  at  the  store  of  John  C.  Sanburn.  Mr.  Sanburn 
held  the  commission  from  the  government  as  the  first  post- 
master. 

The  first  school  in  the  county  was  in  Henderson  township 
in  1830.  This  school  was  a  subscription  school  taught  by 
Franklin  B.  Barber  in  a  log  shanty  near  the  grove.  There  was 
another  school  opened  in  1833  on  Section  31,  taught  by  Harmon 
Brown.  The  first  school  district  was  formed  at  Log  City  in 
1837,  under  the  management  of  Wm.  McMurtry,  the  first 
school  commissioner. 

The  first  plow  in  this  township,  perhaps  in  the  county, 
was  a  wooden  one,  brought  in  by  Daniel  Robertson. 

The  first  pair  of  lines  for  driving  seen  in  this  section  was 
brought  in  by  Gov.  Wm.  McMurtiy.  Having  seen  them  used  by 
a  stage  driver  in  Springfield,  decided  to  have  a  pair.  The  first 
Sunday  he  was  home  the  entire  neighborhood  spent  trying  to 
adjust  these  lines,  but  it  could  not  be  done  till  the  Governor 
went  back  and  had  another  view  as  to  how  they  worked.  Then 
he  saw  one  check  went  to  the  other  horse. 

Two  of  the  four  forts  built  by  the  pioneers  of  Knox  county 
were  located  in  Henderson  township.  These  were  to  protect 
them  from  hostile  Indians  before,  during  and  after  the  Black 
Hawk  War.  One  fort  site  has  recently  been  located  on  Sec- 
tion 33,  on  what  was  long  known  as  the  Peter  Franz  farm.  The 
other  fort  was  on  Section  10  on  the  land  always  known  as  the 
McMurtry  farm.  These  sites  commanded  the  view  in  all  direc- 
tions. To  this  the  surrounding  families  often  went,  remaining 
for  days  and  nights. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  oldest  house  in  Knox  county 
was  about  one-half  mile  north  of  the  village  of  Henderson.  It 
was  a  two-roomed  log  house,  built  in  1834  by  Wm,  Riley. 
Later  the  oldest  house  standing  was  two  miles  northwest  of 
Galesburg.  Of  these  primitive  log  houses  scaarcely  a  one  can 
be  found  in  the  township  today.     No  one  remains  who  can 


110 

look  to  the  days  when  this  country  was  a  wildnerness,  to  the 
time  when  the  foundations  for  homes  were  laid.  For  a  number 
of  years,  to  1903,  the  longest  continuous  resident  was  Dr. 
James  C.  McMurtry,  son  of  Wm.,  who  came  with  his  father's 
family  in  1829,  and  was  less  than  one  year  of  age. 

The  First  Roads 

The  first  roads  were  Indian  trails.  The  wild  Indian  hav- 
ing similar  instincts  as  the  buffalo,  followed  the  same  trails 
which  led  from  timber  groves  to  timber  groves,  always  choos- 
ing the  shortest  and  best  routes.  Many  of  these  same  trails 
the  first  settlers  traveled  seeking  homes,  and  are  public  high- 
ways today.  One  of  these,  the  great  "Galena  Trail,"  from 
Peoria,  passed  throuh  the  western  part  of  this  township  in  a 
northwesterly  direction.  Traces  of  this  old  trail  can  be  seen  to- 
day. There  are  evidences  that  the  American  army  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  under  Col.  Montgomery,  passed  over  this  same 
trail  through  Henderson.  Ordered  by  Gen.  George  Rogers 
Clark  to  follow  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  to  the  lake  on  the  Illinois 
river  (Peoria)  across  the  country  and  attack  them  on  Rock 
river  near  the  mouth.  This  he  did  in  1780.  The  old  Peoria  and 
Rock  Island  road  passes  through  the  township  in  a  north- 
westerly direction.  This  was  among  the  first  main  traveled 
roads,  much  of  which  today  is  State  Aid  road. 

These  pioneers  at  first  lived  like  one  big  family.  They 
helped  each  other  build  their  houses  or  anything  where  help 
was  needed.  They  kept  open-house.  Strangers  were  always 
welcome  and  cared  for.  Their  first  log  houses  had  a  puncheon 
floor,  split  out  of  lynn  wood,  a  clap-board  door.  The  clap- 
boards were  lapped  over  each  other  from  top  to  bottom  to  turn 
the  rain.  The  latch  was  made  of  wood,  with  a  string  tied  to  it 
to  lift  and  lower  it  in  a  wooden  catch.  Their  windows  were 
holes  in  the  logs.  Their  furniture  was  made  by  hand  and  split 
from  logs.  The  fire-places  were  made  of  mud  and  sticks  at 
first,  later  of  brick.  In  these  rude  fire-places  they  cooked, 
using  long  handled  "skillets"  and  in  iron  pots,  and  baked  in 
covered  "skillets"  surrounded  with  hot  coals.  Fires  were 
started  from  flint  stone  or  borrowed  from  a  neighbor.  The 
bedrooms  were  made  in  one  end  of  the  house  by  hanging  quilts 
for  curtains  between  the  beds.  Children  slept  in  "trundle" 
beds,  which  were  pushed  under  the  larger  beds  during  the  day. 
Their  first  lights  were  twisted  cloth  floated  in  a  saucer  of 
grease.  Later  candle  moulds  were  obtained  and  each  family 
made  their  own  candles  of  tallow. 

The  first  year  or  two  their  bread  was  made  of  corn  grated 
on  a  tin  grater.  Then  their  grain  was  prepared  for  food  in  a 
neighbor's  mill,  a  hand  mill,  made  of  two  stones  placed  to- 
gether, the  top  one  being  turned  back  and  forth  with  a  lever. 


Ill 

Soon  a  water  mill  was  started  on  Henderson  Creek  by  Mr. 
Jones.  Later  people  went  to  Milan,  where  was  started  a  better 
mill  for  wheat  floor.  Often  one  of  two  neighbors  went  for 
the  neighborhood  and  would  fish  while  their  wheat  was  being 
ground. 

Sugar  was  made  from  the  sap  of  the  hard  maple,  which 
was  boiled  in  large  pans  in  the  timber.  The  "buckets"  were 
wooden  troughs  to  catch  the  sap.  The  spiles  were  made  of 
Sumack,  with  the  pith  burned  out  with  a  hot  iron.  Barrels  of 
sugar  and  molasses  were  made  from  this  sap.  When  it  would 
not  make  these  any  longer  they  made  the  best  of  vinegar  of  it. 
Soap  was  made  from  lye,  leached  from  ashes  and  grease. 
Starch  was  made  from  potatoes. 

After  the  Indian  War  sheep  were  brought  in  and  spinning 
wheels.  The  women  spun  and  wove  the  wool  into  cloth  for 
their  clothing.  This  "homespun"  they  dyed  at  first  with  wal- 
nut bark  and  hulls  for  brown  and  oak  bark  for  yellow.  For 
green  the  yellow  was  dipped  into  indigo  blue.  They  raised  flax 
from  which  their  linen  was  made.  Money  was  scarce,  but  they 
needed  little  money,  as  there  were  no  markets  near.  About  the 
first  means  of  obtaining  money  was  from  hunting  honey  of 
which  there  was  an  abundance  in  the  timber.  The  Robertsons 
obtained  their  first  money  by  selling  honey  at  St.  Louis.  Many 
interesting  stories  are  told  of  their  bee  hunts. 

West  of  the  center  of  Henderson  township  is  located  one  of 
the  best  examples  of  a  community  center  to  be  found.  At  an 
early  date  these  Swedish  people  began  to  come  into  this  town- 
ship and  by  hard  work  and  saving  were  able  to  purchase  land 
and  build  themselves  homes.  Thsi  community  built  a  church  in 
1881.  This  church  was  burned  and  replaced  by  a  more  modern 
one  about  1914. 

The  only  village  in  this  township  is  Henderson,  on  Section 
14.  It  was  laid  out  June  11,  1835,  by  Pamach  Owen,  and  in- 
coi^porated  in  1838.  In  early  days  it  was  a  flourishing  place 
and  there  were  great  expectations  for  its  future.  Between 
1840  and  1850,  over  30  coopers  were  employed  here  in  making 
barrels,  which  were  shipped  all  over  the  state. 

In  1839,  the  post  office  here  was  the  largest  in  the  county 
and  previous  to  the  building  of  the  railroad  in  1854,  Henderson 
was  nearly  as  important  as  either  Knoxville  or  Galesburg. 
Through  Gov.  McMurtry  it  was  able  to  exert  sufficient  influ- 
ence to  secure  the  insertion  of  a  provision  in  the  railroad  incor- 
poration act  that  the  line  should  pass  through  the  town,  but  the 
provision  was  evaded.  The  road  going  to  Galesburg,  leaving 
Henderson  a  few  miles  to  the  north.  Subsequently,  trade  be- 
ing attracted  to  the  railroad  stations,  the  village  gradually  de- 
clined, until  little  remained.    In  1886,  the  Rio  branch  of  the  C., 


112 

B.  &  Q.  railroad  was  constructed  through  the  village  and  saved 
it  from  complete  extinction  and  some  improvements  have  re- 
cently been  made. 

Note:  Miss  McMurtry  gives  Robertson  as  the  name  of 
two  early  comers  to  the  township.  Elsewhere  the  name  ap- 
pears as  Robinson.  As  Miss  McMurtry  grew  up  in  the  town- 
ship, her  spelling  must  be  accepted  as  correct.) 


113 

INDIAN  POINT  TOWNSHIP 
By  Geo.  L.  Hagan 

Every  intelligent  and  patriotic  citizen  manifests  a  pardon- 
able pride  in  the  achievements  and  progress  made  in  this  great 
state  during  the  past  century.  To  understand  these  and  appre- 
ciate them  fully,  a  man  must  know  some  thing  of  the  history 
of  his  town,  county  and  state.  The  origin  of  the  different  races 
of  people,  who  inhabited  this  country  prior  to  the  coming  of 
the  white  man,  has  always  been  a  debatable  question.  To 
many  there  is  a  striking  similarity  between  the  facial  features 
of  the  Oriental  type  of  mankind  and  the  American  Indian. 
This  similarity  has  lead  them  to  believe  that  the  Indian  is  of 
Oriental  parentage.  Still  there  are  others,  who  see  peculiar- 
ities in  his  physical  structure  that  preclude  the  American 
Indian  from  common  parentage  with  the  rest  of  mankind.  In 
the  absence  of  either  history  or  tradition,  archaeologists  have 
advanced  many  plausible  theories  relative  to  the  prehistoric 
races  that  inhabited  this  country  prior  to  its  discovery  in  1492. 
Discussion  of  the  question  of  their  origin  seldom  enlightens  and 
frequently  confuses.  There  is,  however,  one  point,  upon  which 
all  agree,  and  it  is  the  fact  that  when  Columbus  landed  on  the 
shores  of  America,  he  found  the  Indians  in  undisputed  posses- 
sion of  the  continent. 

Early  events,  affecting  this  locality,  transpired  long  be- 
fore Indian  Point  township,  or  Knox  county,  or  even  the  State 
of  Illinois  assumed  its  its  present  boundary.  History  records 
the  fact  that  as  early  as  1673,  the  Indians  had  well  established 
trails  running  diagonally  across  Knox  county,  the  oldest,  and 
perhaps  the  most  important  of  which  was  the  one  leading  from 
the  Mississippi  River  near  Keokuk,  to  La  Salle  on  the  Illinois 
River.  This  trail  passed  where  Abingdon  is  located.  There  can 
be  but  little  doubt  that  this  trail  followed  the  same  public  high- 
way now  entering  that  city  from  the  southwest  and  extending 
in  a  northeasterly  direction.  It  is  believed  by  many  that  it  is 
the  trail  traveled  by  Father  Marquette,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  on 
his  occasional  visits  to  the  Indians  of  this  section  of  Illinois  in 
1673.  It  is  said  "History  hold  in  her  iron  hand  no  more  pic- 
turesque story  than  these  trails  could  reveal  were  their  guarded 
secrets  known." 

While  the  pioneer  settlers  in  Indian  Point  encountered  no 
Indians,  they  found  many  traces  of  their  occupancy.  The  re- 
mains of  the  wigwams,  axes,  spears  and  arrow  points,  gave 
evidence  that  Indian  Point  was  once  their  "happy  hunting 
ground." 

History  records  the  fact  that  Azel  Dorsey  came  to  this 
township  in  1829.  To  him  is  given  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
white  man  to  enter  Indian  Point  for  settlement.    He  came  from 


114 

Cedar,  and  remained  but  a  few  years.  The  first  permanent 
settlement  in  Indian  Point  was  made  on  Section  16  in  1833,  by- 
John  B.  Latimer,  who  came  with  his  family  from  Tennessee. 
The  following  year  came  John  H.  Lomax  and  Stephen  Howard 
of  Kentucky,  John  Howard,  Isaac  and  Alexander  Latimer  and 
John  Crawford.  In  1835,  Daniel  Meek  and  John  Killiam  settled 
in  Indian  Point.  The  former  purchased  the  home  of  Alexander 
Latimer.  This  farm  lies  just  east  of  the  Indian  Point  school, 
and  has  for  generations  been  known  as  "the  Meek  farm." 

Among  the  list  of  early  settlers  in  Indian  Point,  who  came 
shortly  after  the  above  were:  Silas  Roe,  Bartley  Boydstun, 
Wm.  Stewart,  Seth  Bellwood,  Hugh  Lowry,  Henderson  Hagan, 
L.  A.  McKiearnan,  Chas.  Fielder,  Geo.  Hunt,  David  and  Benja- 
min South,  Wm.  Flannagan,  Bry  and  Wm.  Edmundson,  James 
Martin,  H.  Chrisman,  Henry  and  Austin  Mattingly,  Martin 
Burke,  Joseph  Probasco,  Robt.  Supple,  Harrison  and  Thos.  Im- 
mel,  Dan  Ryan,  Jacob,  Nathan  and  Zene  Bradbuiy,  Jacob 
Dorman,  George  and  Joseph  Wheat,  Francis  Robey,  George  and 
Mortimer  Clements. 

Owes  Much  To  Pioneers 

The  present  generation  owes  much  to  these  sturdy  pioneers 
who  blazed  the  way  to  ciivilization.  With  them  must  be  shared 
the  honor  for  the  many  blessings  we  are  enjoying  today.  Their 
lives  were  lives  of  privation,  and  oftentimes  of  suffering. 
They  lived  not  for  themselves  alone,  but  were  mindful  of  the 
happiness  of  future  generations.  When  we  consider  the  rigors 
of  the  long  winters  on  the  open  prairies,  unprotected  by  trees, 
the  deep  snows  that  often  rendered  transportation  impossible, 
the  great  distances  to  the  river  markets,  the  inconvenience  of 
getting  medical  aid  in  times  of  accidents  and  sickness,  the  lack 
of  communication  between  the  scattered  settlers,  their  meager 
stores  of  food  and  fuel,  we  realize  then  some  of  the  privations 
and  hardships  endured  by  those  good  people.  Notwithstanding 
all  this,  they  were  mainly  happy  and  content.  If  they  raised  a 
surplus  of  grain  or  livestock,  it  was  marketed,  usually  at  either 
Copperas  Creek  Landing  or  Peoria,  the  nearest  river  markets. 
The  prevailing  prices  of  farm  commodities  in  those  early  days 
were  not  such  as  to  prompt  farmers  to  produce  much  in  excess 
of  his  needs.  Dressed  pork  sold  in  those  days  at  $2.00  per  cwt., 
half  cash  and  half  trade.  Corn  often  sold  at  6  cents  per  bushel. 
The  good  mothers  then  spun,  wove  and  made  the  garments 
worn  by  the  family.  Contrast  conditions  then  with  those  of 
today.  This  was  long  before  the  advent  of  the  railroad.  The 
completion  of  the  Quincy  branch  of  the  C,  B.  &  Q.  from  Gales- 
burg  to  Quincy,  in  1855,  gave  an  impetus  to  farming  and  live- 
stock operations  in  this  locality.  Since  that  time  land  values 
advanced  steadily.    At  that  time  the  government  sold  land  at 


115 

$1.25  per  acre,  which  today  commands  from  $300  to  $400  per 
acre. 

The  first  white  child  born  in  Indian  Point  was  Ann  Frances 
Lomax,  daughter  of  John  H.  and  Nancy  Lomax,  born  Sept.  25, 
1835.    The  first  death  recorded  was  a  Mr.  Hibbard,  in  1838. 

Educational  facilities  in  those  pioneer  days  were  very 
meager.  The  principal  studies  were  represented  by  the  three 
R's,  readin,'  ritin,'  rithmetic.  The  first  school  house  erected  in 
Indian  Point  was  on  Section  16,  near  where  the  Point  school 
now  stands.  It  was  built  of  logs,  with  split  logs  for  seats.  This 
was  in  the  year  1837.  It  was  first  taught  by  Dennis  Clark,  who 
was  aftenvard  elected  and  served  many  terms  as  County  Judge 
of  Knox  County.  He  too  was  an  early  settler  here.  The  school 
district  comprised  all  of  Indian  Point  and  the  eastern  part  of 
Warren  county.  The  school  year  then  was  only  the  fall  and 
winter  months.  Thirty  pupils  were  enrolled  the  first  winter, 
that  of  1837-38.  Today  very  few  country^  pupils  have  more 
than  two  miles  to  go  to  reach  school.  Aside  from  the  country 
schools  there  are  splendid  educational  facilities  within  easy 
reach  of  the  pupils  of  Indian  Point  to  complete  their  education 
in  the  high  schools,  colleges  and  academies  of  Knox  county. 

The  Religious  Growth 

Education  and  religion  usually  go  hand  in  hand.  They 
mark  the  beginning  of  civilization.  In  Indian  Point  there  are 
only  two  religious  bodies,  Catholic  and  Christian.  The  later 
has  two  church  organizations,  one  at  Abingdon  and  the  other 
at  St.  Augustine. 

Since  1836  Catholic  services  have  been  held  at  St.  Augus- 
tine. The  first  services  were  conducted  in  that  year  by  Father 
Le  Fevre,  who  afterwards  became  Bishop  of  Detroit,  Michigan. 
The  first  church  was  built  in  1843,  and  dedicated  the  following 
year  by  Bishop  Kenrick  of  St.  Louis.  Among  the  pioneer 
priests,  who  held  services  here  were  Fathers  St.  Cyr,  Conway, 
Doyle,  Drew,  Raho,  Brady,  Griffith,  Kennedy,  Edward  and 
Thomas  O'Neil,  Fitman,  Meehan,  Albrecht,  Larmar  and  Man- 
gon.  In  1863,  the  present  church  was  erected,  and  five  years 
later  moved  to  its  present  location.  Father  Halpin  came  in 
1873,  and  was  the  first  resident  priest.  Since  that  time  the 
following  pastors  have  resided  here:  Fathers  McMahan,  Dal- 
ton,  Howard,  O'Reilly,  now  auxiliary  Bishop  of  Peoria,  Falli- 
hee,  Dunne,  Scheuren,  now  of  Providence,  R.  I. ;  Walsh,  Kniery, 
now  of  Peoria ;  Kelley,  Markey,  now  of  Loda,  111.  Since  Octo- 
ber, 1912,  the  present  pastor.  Father  P.  V.  Egan,  has  been  car- 
rying on  the  work  inaugurated  here  more  than  four  score  years 
ago.  When  completed,  the  interior  decorations  of  the  Catholic 
church  here  will  eclipse  any  church  decorations,  from  an  artis- 
tic standpoint,  in  the  state,   outside  of  cities.    The  present 


116 

membership  is  about  400. 

The  first  Protestant  services  held  in  Indian  Point,  of  which 
there  is  any  record,  were  conducted  by  Rev.  John  Crawford,  a 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  minister,  at  the  home  of  John  Ho- 
ward in  1848.  The  Methodists  effected  an  organization  at  the 
Pleasant  Valley  School,  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  Williams. 
This  was  in  the  Sixties.  Services  were  held  occasionally,  but 
the  organization  did  not  continue  long  in  Indian  Point.  The 
Christian  church  was  first  organized  at  Abingdon  in  1840,  by 
Hiram  Smith  and  Richard  Johnston.  The  first  church  was 
erected  in  1849  at  a  cost  of  $1,000.00.  The  present  church  edi- 
fice is  a  beautiful  brick  veneered  structure.  The  interior  dec- 
orations are  artistic  and  in  keeping  with  the  attractive  appear- 
ance of  the  exterior.  The  present  pastor.  Dr.  A.  M.  Hale,  is 
veiy  popular  with  his  people,  whom  he  has  served  many  years. 
He  is  a  booster  for  any  worthy  cause.  The  present  member- 
ship is  about  300.  At.  St.  Augustine,  the  Christian  church  or- 
ganizaton  was  effected  in  in  1868.  The  number  of  charter 
members  was  104,  of  whom  only  four  are  living,  namely.  Dr.  P. 
Harrod,  of  Avon;  J.  E.  Edmundson  of  Houston,  Texas;  Nathan 
Harrod  and  L.  B.  Harrod,  of  Galesburg.  The  first  services 
were  conducted  here  by  Rev.  Miller.  In  1874,  Rev.  J.  A.  Sea- 
ton  held  a  revival  here,  and  the  membership  was  increased  to 
148.  The  present  membership  is  about  100.  In  1870,  the 
church  was  erected.  Among  the  resident  pastors  of  the  church 
were:  Revs.  Seaton,  Kincaid,  Stevens,  Dillard  and  Hiett.  The 
following  ministers  served  here  at  various  times  since  the 
organization  of  the  church :  Revs.  Joseph  Royal,  J.  S.  Gash,  F. 
M.  Bruner,  Knox  P.  Taylor,  W.  B.  Foster,  John  Hankins,  M. 
Jones,  W.  Branch,  W.  J.  Burner,  Fred  E.  Hagan,  S.  M.  Thomas, 
H.  G.  Bennett,  N.  L.  Collins,  D.  Shanklin,  Rev.  Keefer,  Davis, 
Brannie  and  Cook. 

Its  Name. 

Indian  Point  took  its  name  from  a  body  of  timber  extend- 
ing from  Cedar  Fork  to  Section  16.  Along  the  edge  of  this 
timber  was  a  favorite  camping  ground  of  the  Indians,  the 
remains  of  whose  camps  were  extant  long  after  settlement  by 
the  whites.  This,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  many  axes,  spears 
and  arrow-points  were  found  here,  gave  rise  to  the  name  of 
Indian  Point.  By  this  name  of  "Indian  Point"  the  township 
was  christened  on  Monday,  January  14,  1850,  when  the  town- 
ship organization  was  perfected.  Daniel  Meek  was  elected  the 
first  supervisor  in  1853,  The  first  meeting  of  the  Supervisors 
was  held  on  April  5,  1853,  at  Knoxville,  then  the  county  seat  of 
Knox  county. 

At  the  present  time  Indian  Point  has  the  following  offi- 
cials: Willard  Tinkham,  supervisor;  W.  H.  Clark,  town  clerk; 
Geo.  L.  Hagan,  assessor;  I.  T.  Perry,  single  highway  commis- 


117 

sioner;  W.  L.  Mills,  K.  R.  Marks  and  A.  C.  Fielder,  school 
trustees ;  W.  M.  Clark  and  S.  Gray,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  S. 
D.  Lomax,  constable. 

About  St.  Augustine 

St.  Augustine  is  the  only  municipality  lying  wholly  within 
the  boundaries  of  Indian  Point.  It  is  the  oldest  town  in  this 
section  of  Illinois.  It  was  originally  laid  out  a  half  mile  south 
of  its  present  location  by  Henry  and  Austin  Mattingly  on  May 
6,  1835.  The  early  settlers  who  located  here  were  principally 
from  Kentucky,  Indiana  and  Ohio.  For  twenty  years  business 
was  transacted  where  the  village  was  originally  laid  out.  Upon 
the  completion  of  the  C,  B.  &  Q.  Railroad  from  Galesburg  to 
Quincy  in  1855,  the  village  was  moved  to  the  present  site,  on 
account  of  the  improved  railroad  facilities.  Business  naturally 
drifted  to  the  new  location.  The  former  location  is  now  known 
as  "Old  Town."  Sebastian  Pike  was  the  first  merchant,  Isaac 
Rubart,  the  first  postmaster.  Dr.  A.  Baldwin,  besides  being 
the  first  physician,  was  also  the  first  agent  for  the  railroad 
company.  Among  the  pioneer  merchants  were  Clements  & 
Son,  Thos.  Terrj%  Hall  &  Carbon.  Thos.  Blake  was  the  first 
blacksmith.  Clements  &  Smith  owned  and  operated  the  first 
lumber  yard  in  1857.  J.  G.  Gallett  and  P.  H.  Smith  built  the 
first  elevator  in  1857.  Ten  years  later  the  building  and  con- 
tents burned.  The  only  grist  mill  ever  built  in  Indian  Point 
was  erected  by  Craighton  &  Ogden  at  St.  Augustine  in  1857. 
Besides  making  flour  and  meal,  a  distillery  was  run  in  con- 
nection. A  few  years  later,  a  wool-carding  machine  was  in- 
stalled. This  machine  was  operated  by  Henry  Livers.  During 
the  spring  of  1879  the  mill  and  contents  burned.  While  St. 
Augustine  has  had  several  fires,  the  most  disastrous  from  a 
business  standpoint,,  was  that  of  April  30,  1897.  The  fire  had 
had  its  origin  in  a  vacant  building.  It  swept  all  the  business 
buildings  on  the  north  side  of  Sixth  street  and  left  but  three 
on  the  south  side  of  the  street.  Buildings  of  a  more  substan- 
tial nature  have  since  been  erected.  In  April,  1911,  the  Cath- 
olic parsonage  burned.  The  fire  was  discovered  at  midnight. 
It  had  gained  such  headway  that  nothing  could  be  saved.  Miss 
Elizabeth  McKeon,  the  house-keeper,  was  alone  at  the  time  and 
lost  her  life. 

The  merchants  of  St.  Augustine  are  an  energetic  lot  of 
business  men,  who  by  close  application  to  business,  have  turned 
the  tide  of  trade  their  way.  Among  them  are  Mills  &  Sons, 
Harrod  &  Fielder,  James  Tanney,  S.  H.  Ryan,  Miss  Kate  Jen- 
nings and  Neice  &  Co,  In  1902,  the  Bank  of  St.  Augustine  was 
chartered  and  began  business  the  following  year.  Since  that 
time  the  business  of  St.  Augustine  has  more  than  doubled. 
This  being  an  agricultural  community  any  enterprise  to  suc- 
ceed must  have  the  patronage  and  support  of  the  farmers. 


118 

Much  of  the  success  achieved  is  attributable  to  them.  Geo.  L. 
Hagan,  Assistant  Cashier  of  the  bank,  was  born  and  raised  on 
an  Indian  Point  farm,  and  is  famihar  with  the  hkes  and  dislikes 
of  the  farmers.  He  knows  that  they  appreciate  courtesies  ex- 
tended them  in  business.  For  this  reason,  he  serves  them  from 
6  a.  m.  to  9  p.  m. 

Saloons  had  a  long  lease  of  life  in  St.  Augustine.  This 
had  a  tendency  to  drive  the  better  element  of  trade  away  from 
town.  However,  in  1908  ''John  Barleycorn'  'was  voted  out  for 
all  time  to  come.  Since  that  time  many  new  residences  have 
been  erected,  and  an  improvement  in  business  has  been  very 
noticeable.  Any  history  of  St.  Augustine,  without  mention  of 
the  trade  boosters,  would  be  incomplete.  For  the  past  ten 
years,  T.  J.  Sailer,  Walter  Clark,  Sherman  Babbitt  and  later  on 
G.  L.  Smith,  have  been  instrumental  boosting  the  business  in- 
terests of  St.  Augustine.  These  gentlemen  are  extensive  farm- 
ers, buyers  of  livestock  and  grain,  feeders  and  shippers.  Fre- 
quently these  gentlemen  handle  12  to  15  carloads  of  livestock 
per  week.  They  also  make  a  good  market  for  all  the  surplus 
corn  and  hay  of  this  community. 

Since  1903,  the  St.  Augustine  Eagle  has  kept  the  village  in 
the  limelight,  and  has  given  it  a  prestige  that  it  never  enjoyed 
before.  It  is  published  by  Karl  R.  Haggenjos,  and  has  for  its 
local  editor  Geo.  L.  Hagan. 

The  City  of  Abingdon 

This  beautiful  city  enjoys  many  natural  advantages, 
which  tend  to  make  it  an  ideal  location  for  a  city.  It  is  sur- 
rounded by  broad  and  fertile  prairies,  which  have  contributed 
much  toward  its  prosperity.  As  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
city  lies  within  the  boundaries  of  Indian  Point,  it  is  my  pui*pose 
to  write  only  of  the  institutions  and  enterprises  located  in 
this  part  of  the  city,  leaving  the  major  portion  of  the  city  to 
the  writer  of  the  Annals  for  Cedar  Township,  In  May,  1846, 
"South  Abingdon,"  as  this  part  of  the  city  was  formerly  called, 
was  laid  out  by  Frederick  Snyder.  At  that  time  it  contained 
only  two  and  one-half  blocks.  The  first  school  house  was  a 
frame  structure,  20  by  40  feet,  and  contained  but  one  room. 
Later  the  building  proved  too  small  and  several  additions  were 
added.  It  stood  a  few  rods  south  of  the  present  Washington 
school,  which  was  built  in  1888.  In  1853,  P.  H.  Murphy  opened 
an  academy  in  a  frame  building.  For  two  years  he  lectured 
among  his  people,  and  infused  into  them  much  of  his  own  zeal 
and  wishes,  to  such  an  extent  that  they  were  ready  to  give  his 
academy  the  rank  of  a  college  and  erect  the  necessaiy  build- 
ings. A  plain  three-story  brick  building  was  erected,  in  which 
the  college  work  was  inaugurated  in  1855.  Mr.  Murphy  became 
its  first  president.    Ill  health  forced  him  to  resign  the  position 


119 

in  April,  1860,  and  he  died  the  following  August.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  J.  W.  Butler,  who  was  elected  in  January,  1861. 
President  Butler  served  until  1874,  Dissensions  broke  out 
among  the  faculty  a  few  years  prior  to  this  time,  which  had  a 
telling  effect  upon  the  influence  and  power  the  institution  for- 
merly wielded.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  The  college 
building  stood  vacant  many  years,  and  was  finally  razed  in 
1917,  to  make  room  for  the  new  Community  High  School,  which 
was  erected  at  a  cost  of  near  $75,000. 

Foremost  among  the  factories  of  this  part  of  the  city  is 
the  Abingdon  Sanitary  Mfg.  Co.  This  enterprise  was  organ- 
ized under  the  law  of  State  of  Illinois  in  August  1908.  Prom- 
inent among  the  early  promotors  were:  James  Simpson,  Dr. 
Bradway,  Orion  Latimer,  G.  A,  Shipplett,  G.  K.  Slough,  P.  H. 
Maloney  and  others.  The  first  buildings  erected  were  thought 
to  be  sufficiently  commodious  to  serve  the  wants  of  the  com- 
pany for  years.  The  popularity  gained  by  the  output  of  the 
factory  was  such  that  the  company  was  forced  to  make  several 
additions  to  the  original  plant.  They  make  not  only  plumbers' 
earthenware,  but  many  vitreous  china  specialties.  At  the 
present  time  the  company  employes  130  men,  and  the  annual 
production  amounts  to  near  a  million  dollars.  While  much  of 
the  raw  material  is  obtained  from  the  states  of  Maine,  Dela- 
ware, New  Jersey,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Georgia,  great 
quantities  are  imported  from  England.  The  products  are 
shipped  to  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  Union,  and  many  ship- 
ments are  exported  to  South  America  and  Australia.  J.  E. 
Slater  is  president  of  the  company. 

Another  factory  that  is  rapidly  forging  to  the  front,  is 
the  Abingdon  Milling  and  Cattle  Feeding  Co.  On  October  24, 
1913,  the  company  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  Illinois, 
and  the  manufacture  of  feed  was  begun  in  May,  1914.  The 
early  promotors  of  this  enterprise  weve  I.  L.  Reynolds,  of  Clin- 
ton, Iowa;  Roy  A.  Johnson,  of  Taylorville,  111. ;  D.  E.  Kincaid,  of 
Greenfield,  111.;  Carl  S.  Burnside,  of  Galesburg;  L.  H.  Robert- 
son, E.  I.  Blevins  and  S.  H.  Whiteneck  of  Abingdon.  The  feeds 
manufactured  are  "Malasso"  for  cattle  and  "Jumbo"  hog 
feed.  The  raw  material  entering  these  products  are  oil  meal, 
tankage,  cotton  seed  meal,  bran,  hard-wood  charcoal,  corn,  flax 
seed  products  and  Cuban  cane  molasses.  The  bulk  of  the  small 
grain  is  bought  at  Minneapolis,  the  bran  and  corn  in  Central 
Illinois,  the  charcoal  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  mo- 
lasses in  Cuba.  The  products  of  this  mill  have  grown  in  favor 
with  feeders  all  over  the  com  belt.  Shipments  have  been  made 
to  the  Pacific  coast.  The  demand  for  the  products  has  steadily 
increased  until  many  thousand  tons  are  manufactured  and 
shipped  annually.  The  present  board  of  directors  are:  L.  H. 
Robertson,  E.  I.  Blevins,  S.  H.  Whiteneck,  L.  M.  Fralich  of 


120 

Abingdon,  and  W.  H,  Gridley  of  Kirkwood,  111.  The  officers 
are:  L.  H.  Robertson,  president;  C.  B.  Gaddis  of  Avon,  vice- 
president  ;  L.  M.  Fralich,  secretary,  and  S.  H.  Whiteneck, 
treasurer. 

On  March  8,  1882,  the  Abingdon  Argus  was  launched  by 
its  present  efficient  and  talented  editor,  Hon.  W.  H.  Clark, 
For  near  forty  years  he  has  been  untiring  in  his  efforts  to 
make  the  Argus  a  truly  representative  weekly  newspaper.  He 
is  regarded  as  an  exceptional  writer. 

In  reviewing  what  we  are  pleased  to  call  the  "Pioneer 
Days,"  we  must  not  loose  sight  of  the  fact  that  those  good  old- 
fashioned  people  had  their  sports  and  pleasures,  as  well  as 
their  privations  and  hardships.  For  the  men  were  the  wolf 
hunts,  log  rollings,  political  rallies  and  horses  races.  The  ladies 
had  their  quilting  bees,  rag  tackings  and  social  gatherings. 
The  younger  people  had  their  dances,  singing  and  writing 
schools  in  the  winter  time.  Later  on  the  spelling  schoDls 
proved  both  interesting  and  profitable.  Each  school  took  a 
pariticular  pride  in  seeing  its  pupils  win  in  spelling  contests. 
The  literary  and  debating  societies  were  a  source  of  pleasure 
and  profit  in  their  day. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  the  biggest  snow  storm 
that  ever  visited  this  county  was  during  the  winter  of  1830-31. 
It  continued  to  fall  for  several  days,  and  measured  four  feet 
deep  on  the  level.  In  many  places  the  drifts  were  twenty  feet 
high.  It  lay  on  the  ground  for  months.  Another  heavy  snow 
fell  during  the  winter  of  1863-64.  It  drifted  badly,  and  it  was 
not  an  unusual  sight  to  see  teams  and  sleds  driven  over  hedges 
and  fences. 

The  following  are  still  living  in  this  community,  who  were 
here  prior  to  1850,  Hon.  W.  H.  Clark,  T.  H.  Roe,  Miss  Delia  Bell- 
wood,  of  Abingdon,  Mrs.  Leah  South,  Mrs.  L.  D.  Jennings,  Wm. 
South  and  wife  and  Luke  Filder.  Those  who  have  spent  three 
score  year  or  more  here  are:  Jas.  W.  Cox,  J.  E.  Cox,  J.  E.  and 
W.  F.  Robertson,  J.  W.  Lomax  of  Abingdon,  David  and  George 
South,  Mrs.  Laura  Edmundson,  Mrs.  T.  B.  Bourn,  Miss  Josie 
Edmundson,  Mrs.  C,  H.  Mason,  Geo.  L.  and  Albert  Hagan  and 
Mrs.  Luke  Fielder. 

The  future  historian  of  Indian  Point  may  look  back  to  our 
times  with  the  interest  that  we  now  view  what  we  are  pleased 
to  call  pioneer  days.  If  our  efforts  in  writing  the  Annals  of 
Indian  Point  at  the  present  time  prove  helpful  to  him,  we  feel 
that  our  work  has  not  been  in  vain. 

Grateful  acknowledgement  is  herebv  made  to  T.  H.  Roe, 
Hon.  W.  H.  Clark,  L.  M.  Fralich  and  J.  E.  Slater  for  valuable 
assistance  rendered  in  compiling  these  annals. 


121 

KNOX  TOWNSHIP 
By  O.  L.  Campbell 

Knox  township,  Knox  county,  Illinois,  goes  to  par  in  this, 
the  year  of  our  Lord,  1919.  In  the  early  days  of  a  century  ago, 
as  was  mete  and  proper,  counties  and  towns  were  named  after 
famous  generals  of  the  wars  of  preceding  years,  and  Knox 
county,  Knox  township  and  Knoxville  have  always  pointed  with 
pride  to  the  brave  General  Henry  Knox,  a  soldier  of  the  war  of 
the  revolution,  who  commanded  the  storming  party  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Stony  Point.  After  a  major  general  and  Washington's 
secretary  of  state  this  garden  of  Eden  was  named.  "For  there 
was  nothing  base  or  small,  or  craven,  in  his  soul's  broad  plan." 
In  his  second  annual  message  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
November  6,  1818,  President  Monroe  laid  before  that  body  for 
their  advice  and  consent  the  several  treaties  which  had  been 
made  with  the  twenty-five  tribes  of  Indians.  By  reference  to 
the  journal  of  commissioners  it  appeared  that  George  and  Levi 
Calbert  had  bargained  and  sold  to  the  United  States  the  reser- 
vations made  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  1816,  and  that  a  deed  of 
trust  had  been  made  by  them  to  James  Jackson  of  Nashville, 
Tennessee.  He  therefore  suggested  that  in  case  the  Chickasaw 
treaty  was  approved  by  the  senate  the  propriety  of  providing 
for  the  payment  of  the  sum  stipulated  to  be  given  to  them  for 
their  reservation.  The  land  upon  which  Knox  county  was  lo- 
cated was,  therefore,  ceded  to  the  United  States,  August  30th, 
1819,  just  a  hundred  years  ago.  The  exact  location  of  the 
township  is  number  eleven  north  of  range  two  east  and  is 
marked  by  the  C,  B.  &  Q.  railway  survey  as  being  the  highest 
point  of  land  and  almost  equi-distant  between  the  Illinois  and 
Mississippi  rivers.  According  to  the  state  records,  Knoxville  is 
the  tenth  town  incorporated  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  The 
land  is  a  rich,  alluvial  soil,  being  thoroughly  drained  on  the 
south  by  Haw  Creek  and  on  the  north  by  Court  Creek.  It  was 
on  this  high  point  that  the  Indians  and  many  friendly  tribes, 
passing  through  from  Peoria  Lake  to  the  Mississippi  River, 
found  a  pleasant  home,  and  there  are  many  evidences  that  this 
point  was  their  headquarters  for  many  years.  On  the  road 
which  led  north  from  Hebard  street,  recently  closed,  many 
arrow  heads  and  chips  of  flint  were  found.  The  early  settlers 
found  a  cleared  plot  of  ground  about  a  half  mile  north  of 
town  showing  evidences  of  having  been  used  for  raising  crops. 
Surrounding  this  field  was  a  dense  timber  of  white  and  black 
oak  trees  of  immense  size,  growing  so  closely  together  that  the 
sun  could  scarcely  shine  through  the  leaves.  But  closer  and  on 
the  border  of  the  clearing,  was  an  abundance  of  wild  fruit,  in- 
cluding strawberries,  raspberries  and  blackberries,  while  im- 
mense wild  cherry,  red  and  black  haw  trees  bore  fruit  of  most 
excellent  quality  and  in  great  abundance.    So  carefully  had  this 


122 

fruit  been  cultivated  that  even  as  late  as  1860  fruit  of  rare 
quality  and  unlimited  quantity  was  gathered  by  the  white 
people. 

Old  Captain  Stevens,  a  retired  naval  officer,  who  made 
his  home  in  Knoxville,  organized  a  cavalry  company  of  young 
men  of  this  community  and  it  was  on  this  spot  of  land  that  the 
company  was  drilled.  When  the  boys  were  sufficiently  skilled 
in  military  tactics,  P.  D.  Rogers,  for  many  years  proprietor  of 
the  old  Hebard  House,  was  elected  captain  and  they  were 
ready  to  defend  the  people  from  incursions  of  all  foes.  An- 
other company,  with  Captain  Hale  of  the  United  States  regular 
army,  as  drill  master,  was  organized  about  the  year  1855,  and 
with  their  old  muzzle-loading  guns,  they  were  so  proficient  that 
when  the  call  to  arms  came  in  1861,  Knoxville  was  among  the 
first  to  respond  to  the  call  by  Lincoln  for  an  army  of  defense. 
A  little  later  a  company  of  Zouaves  was  organized,  but  the  calls 
for  recruits  were  then  so  frequent  that  its  members  soon  en- 
listed for  "three  years  or  during  the  war."  At  this  time  Knox- 
ville was  the  county  seat  and  this  probably  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  the  town  is  credited  with  sending  547  soldiers  to  the 
front  during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  When  the  call  came  for 
volunteers  for  the  war  with  Spain,  29  Knox  township  boys 
responded.  During  the  late  World  War,  132  responded  from 
this  township  to  fight  for  "freedom  for  all,  forever." 

It  was  in  Knox  township  that  the  Indians  spent  their  sum- 
mers and  harvested  their  crops,  made  their  preparations  for 
their  annual  hunt  in  the  region  now  known  as  Wisconsin. 

The  east  part  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  1790  and  the  larger 
part  of  Indiana  was  once  named  Knox  county,  but  by  a  change, 
in  boundaries,  Knox  was  joined  to  Fulton  county. 

Knoxville  was  a  stopping  place  and  trading  point  for  the 
Indians  who  lived  in  or  traded  through  this  locality  75  and 
more  years  ago.  Sam  McFarland,  who  lived  in  Chestnut  town- 
ship, tells  of  coming  to  Knoxville  77  years  ago  with  his  father 
to  see  a  tribe  of  Indians  pass  through  this  place,  it  being  the 
only  town  of  importance  between  the  two  rivers.  The  Black 
Hawk  Indians  were  in  the  habit  of  coming  down  from  Rock 
Island  with  a  supply  of  beaded  moccasins  and  other  specimens 
of  their  work  to  sell  to  the  visitors  here.  Where  less  than  a 
century  ago  wolves  and  deer  roamed  in  the  wild  country,  now 
thousands  of  sleek  cattle  browse  on  the  rich  pastures. 

Early  Settlers 

The  first  child  born  in  Knox  township  was  Grace  Hans- 
ford, whose  married  name  was  Shock.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  Dr.  Charles  Hansford,  our  first  physician,  and  she  was  bom 
in  1834.  E.  T.  Eads,  a  son  of  John  Eads,  was  the  first  boy 
born  in  this  city  and  he  first  saw  the  light  of  day  in  1835. 


123 

Harvey  Montgomery,  who  is  now  living  on  the  spot  where  he 
was  born,  is  the  oldest  child  in  the  township,  and  has  probably 
lived  longer  in  the  county  than  any  other  person  now  alive. 
The  date  of  his  birth  is  1834.  He  is  the  largest  land  owner  in 
the  town,  having  more  than  1,200  acres  upon  which  he  pays 
taxes.  Jacob  Gum  came  here  from  Menard  county  in  1827. 
He  was  the  first  student  of  the  first  school  taught  in  the 
county.  The  first  couple  married  here  was  Alexander  Osborne 
and  Ann  Hendricks,  who  were  united  in  the  hold  bonds  of 
matrimony  July  1,  1829. 

Our  first  postoffice  was  established  in  1831,  and  John  G. 
Sanburn  was  our  first  postmaster.  The  first  observance  of 
Independence  Day  was  in  what  is  now  known  as  Gilbert's  Park 
on  July  4,  1836,  and  Hon.  James  Knox  was  the  orator  of  the 
day.  The  display  of  fireworks  was  on  the  prairie  north  of 
the  Knoxville  Old  Ladies'  Home.  Balls  of  candle  wicking  were 
soaked  in  what  was  then  known  as  coal  oil  and  they  were 
lighted  and  thrown  from  one  side  of  the  lawn  to  the  other. 
When  the  balls  began  to  unravel  and  streams  of  fire  were  seen 
flying  from  one  to  the  other. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  board  of  supervisors  was  in  Knox- 
ville in  1853,  The  first  session  of  the  circuit  court  was  held 
October  1,  1830,  Judge  Richard  M.  Young,  presiding.  The  first 
jail  was  built  in  1832  at  a  cost  of  $250,  J.  G.  Sanburn  being  the 
builder  and  contractor. 

The  first  men  tried  for  murder  in  the  county  was  John 
Root,  a  Henry  county  man.  John  M.  Osborn  was  the  only  man 
ever  hung  in  Knox  county,  suffering  the  death  penalty  for  the 
murder  of  Adelia  M.  Matthews,  at  Yates  City,  August  5,  1872. 

Our  first  hotel  was  built  on  the  corner  of  the  public  square 
and  West  Main  street  and  was  owned  and  kept  by  William 
Newman.  R.  L.  Hannaman  was  Knox  township's  first  lawyer, 
coming  here  in  1831.  The  first  court  house  was  built  in  1831, 
at  a  cost  of  $393.43.  Our  first  alms  house  was  built  in  1856. 
The  Old  Settlers'  association  was  orgnized  in  Knoxville  in 
1867.  The  Knox  County  Agricultural  Board  was  organized  in 
1851. 

Our  first  county  clerk,  John  G.  Sanburn,  sei'ved  from 
1830  to  1837.  The  First  National  Bank  has  been  in  existence 
since  1865. 

The  first  mayor  of  Knoxville  was  James  Price.  Knoxville 
has  long  been  an  educational  center,  Ewing  Female  University 
was  established  in  1859,  and  St.  Mary's  school  has  been  in 
exsitence  since  ever  since.  There  are  many  interesting  stories 
of  people  of  the  early  days.  Daniel  Fuqua  came  to  this  place  in 
1830 — the  year  of  the  big  snow,  when  the  snow  was  three 
feet  deep  on  the  level  and  all  roads  were  badly  drifted. 


124 

Uncle  Dick  Haney,  an  old-time  Methodist  minister,  tells 
of  a  sight  which  he  witnessed  in  the  early  days,  when  he  went 
into  a  cabin  and  saw  there  a  woman  running  a  spinning  wheel 
with  one  foot,  rocking  a  cradle  with  the  other,  her  hands  mean- 
while being  engaged,  one  in  churning,  the  other  holding  the 
flax  as  it  was  made  into  yarn.  To  some  this  stor\^  seems  like 
a  fable,  but  the  truth  of  the  statement  was  vouched  for  by 
others  present,  the  lady  being  none  other  than  the  wife  of 
Uncle  Daniel  Fuqua,  who,  in  a  reminiscent  way,  related  to  the 
old  settlers'  secretaiy  that  he  came  to  Knox  county  May  2, 
1830,  landing  at  Henderson  Grove,  coming  from  Kentucky  with 
oxen  and  horses,  and  lived  in  an  old  log  cabin  the  first  six 
months.  He  took  possession  of  a  small  clearing  of  about  seven 
acres  and  raised  a  crop  of  corn.  It  made  about  50  bushels  to 
the  acre  and  it  was  all  that  was  needed  for  the  family  use! 
He  took  a  land  claim  in  the  fall  and  built  a  double  log  house  on 
the  land.  In  those  days  there  was  no  need  of  fraternal  organ- 
izations, for  as  soon  as  a  newcomer  arrived,  provisions  were 
prepared  and  for  miles  around  they  assembled  to  give  what  was 
usually  a  very  home-sick  family  a  hearty  welcome  to  the  new 
home.  At  this  time  there  was  not  a  town  in  Knox  county,  but 
shortly  afterwards  the  house  of  John  Gum  was  used  in  which 
to  transact  business. 

In  1831  Knoxville  was  laid  out  and  the  court  house  was 
established  in  a  log  cabin,  the  only  houses  then  known.  In  the 
fall  of  1830  he  broke  up  five  acres  of  land,  sowed  wheat  and 
raised  250  bushels.  Horses  trampled  out  the  grain  and  a  sheet 
was  the  fanning  mill.  This  was  the  winter  of  the  big  snow, 
three  feet  deep  on  the  level.  This  made  traveling  almost  im- 
possible, but  with  plenty  of  corn  and  an  abundance  of  wild 
game,  such  as  deer,  squirrels,  wild  turkeys  and  chickens  they 
lived  in  what  would  now  be  considered  the  most  profligate 
luxury.  The  tediousness  of  life  was  relieved  by  going  to  mill. 
There  was  a  good  water  mill  at  Rock  Island,  about  60  miles 
away,  another  on  Spoon  River,  in  Fulton  county,  a  third  in 
Stark  county  and  still  another  in  Warren  county.  The  time 
spent  in  these  long  travels  was  not  considered  lost,  for  this 
was  their  only  opportunity  to  get  a  glimpe  of  the  outside  world. 
Human  nature,  then,  as  now,  ever  sought  companionship. 

The  first  ripple  in  the  quiet  life  of  those  early  inhabitants 
was  the  breaking  out  in  1831  of  the  Black  Hawk  War.  The 
Indians  were  feared  and  dreaded,  and  to  protect  the  families 
Fort  Gum  was  built  near  Henderson.  After  a  short  time  their 
fears  were  allayed  and  they  returned  to  their  homes.  In  1832 
block  houses  were  built  in  different  parts  of  the  county  and  a 
company  was  enlisted.  Looms  were  seen  in  almost  every  cabin, 
and  until  sheep  could  be  reared,  the  clothing  was  all  of  flax  and 
cotton.     They   made  a  virtue  of  necessity  and  lived  within 


125 

themselves,  for  money  was  a  scarce  article  in  1830.  Every- 
thing was  barter  and  trade.  What  little  money  they  had  was 
used  to  pay  taxes.  Each  of  the  few  first  families  brought  with 
them  a  few  cooking  implements,  but  soon  the  young  people  be- 
gan to  mate,  and  then  the  houses  that  enjoyed  two  cooking  im- 
plements was  fortunate,  indeed,  for  then  they  could  divide  with 
the  young  people.  There  being  no  stoves,  fire  places  were  used 
to  cook  over,  the  kettle  hanging  from  a  crane  and  the  hoe  cake 
taking  on  that  delicious  toothsome  brown  while  reposing  in 
depths  of  hot  ashes.  "How  dear  to  my  heart,"  said  the  old 
gentleman,  as  he  waxed  into  a  reminiscent  mood,  "is  the  mem- 
ory of  my  first  attempts  at  founding  a  home.  I  had  attained 
the  mature  age  of  19  years  and  my  dear  wife  of  blessed  mem- 
ory was  a  demure  maiden  of  almost  16,  the  most  beautiful  wo- 
man and  the  best  the  Lord  had  ever  made,  whose  life  of  love 
and  constancy  continued  through  52  short  but  happy  years. 
With  what  happy  expectation  I  watched  her  boil  water  for 
coffee  in  an  old  cast  iron  skillet,  which  was  then  used  to  fry  the 
venison,  which  was  kept  warm  on  the  cover,  while  the  same 
faithful  utensil  did  triple  duty  on  baking  our  bread.  Our 
daughters  have  a  local  reputation  as  good  cooks,  it  is  true,  but 
none  of  them  have  been  able  to  furnish  me  a  feast  so  delectable 
and  satisfying  as  was  this,  the  first  repast  eaten  with  thank- 
fulness and  joy  under  vine  and  fig  tree. 

Our  first  furniture  was  indeed  crude,  but  tired  nature's 
sweet  restorer,  balmy  sleep,  was  just  as  refreshing  upon  a  bed 
of  clapboards,  held  in  position  by  poles  inserted  in  holes  in  the 
logs  of  our  14x16  cabin.  A  clapboard  table  was  a  luxuiy,  the 
making  and  using  of  which  was  enjoyed  and  stools  and  benches 
served  instead  of  the  present  divans  and  upholstered  rockers. 

"There  were  no  churches  in  those  days,  but  occasional  ser- 
vices were  enjoyed  at  a  centrally  located  cabin,  where  all 
seemed  to  be  fervent  in  the  worship  of  the  Lord,  and  who  shall 
blame  us  if,  as  now  the  case,  these  occasions  were  often  used 
to  form  acquaintances  which  often  resulted  in  happy  alliance? 
Matches  are  made  in  heaven,  it  is  said;  I  know  there  were 
heavenly  matches  made  in  the  old  log  cabins  in  those  days." 

Politics  in  Knoxville  were  always  of  the  independent  kind. 
While  the  Republicans  usually  have  a  plurality  of  about  200 
when  general  elections  were  held,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in 
the  county  the  Democratic  vote  only  varied  29  in  five  years, 
and  the  Republican  vote  only  49,  a  Democrat  has  represented 
Knox  township  more  terms  on  the  board  of  supervisors  than 
have  Republicans. 

Knoxville  has  always  been  considered  the  center  of  agri- 
cultural industry.  She  looks  down  upon  a  century  of  achieve- 
ment with  a  pride  that  is  little  short  of  devotion,  and  having 


126 

given  to  the  world  such  men  as  Judge  Craig,  of  the  Illinois  Su- 
preme court ;  Hon.  James  Knox  and  Hon,  J.  H.  Lewis  to  the 
halls  of  the  nation's  congress ;  Hon,  R,  W.  Miles,  Hon,  P,  H, 
Sanford,  Julius  Manning  and  Henry  J,  Runkle  to  grace  the  halls 
of  Illinois  legislature,  she  feels  that  she  has  done  her  full  share 
in  furnishing  men  and  names  by  which  this  great  common- 
wealth has  taken  its  high  place  upon  the  topmost  round, 

(Note:  Mr,  Campbell  gives  the  date  of  the  laying  out  of 
Knoxville  as  1831,  instead  of  the  earlier  date,  given  in  the 
county  histories. 


127 

LYNN  TOWNSHIP 
From  Sketch  of  J.  A.  Beals 

The  northwest  township  of  Knox  county  is  and  will  be, 
because  of  its  location  and  environment,  a  township  of  tarms. 
In  the  early  days  some  effort  was  made  to  attract  the  merchant 
and  mechanic  to  a  point  on  the  south  line,  called  Centerville 
(afterward  platted  as  Milroy),  but  it  failed  of  success,  and 
there  has  never  been  a  postoff ice,  a  church  building  or  a  village 
within  the  limits  of  Lynn. 

Great  is  the  contrast  between  the  landscape  of  today, 
dotted  with  well-improved  farms,  with  their  commodious 
dwellings  and  barns,  and  that  of  1828,  when  Michael  Fraker, 
with  his  family,  came  to  Section  23,  to  find  the  tract  of  land  he 
had  purchased  in  Kentucky  in  the  possession  and  occupancy  of 
the  Indians.  The  braves  were  away  hunting,  having  left  only 
the  old  men,  women  and  children  to  contest  his  claim.  So  the 
white  man  made  himself  at  home.  But  the  returning  hunters 
disputed  his  title,  claiming  that  theirs  came  from  the  Indian 
God  and  was  long  prior  to  that  of  the  new  settler.  Mr.  Fraker 
thought  diplomacy  was  better  than  valor.  He  was  adroit; 
he  had  tact  and  genius,  and  was  kind  and  helpful.  He  was  a 
blacksmith,  and  could  mend  their  guns.  They  took  him  to  their 
hearts,  and  helped  him  build  his  cabin,  but  could  see  no  neces- 
sity for  his  making  tight  joints  between  the  logs.  But  his 
trust  in  his  new-found  friends  was  not  wholly  without  reserva- 
tion— bullets  had  a  better  chance  where  the  cracks  were  large. 
They  finally  left  him  their  wigwams  and  council  house,  and 
made  new  homes  at  Indian  Creek,  seven  miles  east,  returning 
yearly  as  friends  at  the  sugar  season.  A  granddaughter  of 
Mr.  Fraker  says  she  has  heard  her  grandmother  say  that  the 
only  white  women  she  saw  for  four  years  were  those  of  her 
own  family,  and  those  who  came  with  them.  A  fair-sized  band 
of  Indians  lived  and  roamed  from  Spoon  River  to  the  Mississ- 
ippi, their  trails  being  distinctly  perceptible  long  after  they 
had  left  the  country.  A  clear,  flowing  spring  on  the  east  side 
of  Fraker's  Grove  had  trails  from  all  directions  centering 
there.  Some  of  the  early  settlers  long  afterward  remembered 
the  friendly  visits  of  the  Chief  Shaubena  after  the  Black  Hawk 
War.  Mr.  Fraker  was  a  middle  aged  man  when  he  came  from 
Kentucky.  He  buried  two  wives  and  was  living  with  his  third, 
and  was  the  father  of  twenty-four  children. 

George  Fitch,  a  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Fraker,  settled  near  by 
soon  after  the  Frakers,  and  was  the  first  school  teacher  and 
Justice  of  the  Peace  in  the  settlement.  His  son,  Luther,  is  re- 
ported to  have  been  the  first  white  child  bom  here.  The  first 
marriage  was  that  of  William  Hitchcock  and  Julia  Fraker. 
John  Essex  was  the  first  settler  on  Walnut  Creek,  in  1830. 


128 

His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Jacob  Cress,  who,  with  his  fam- 
ily, settled  on  Section  24,  in  1831.  These  were  the  only  per- 
sons living  in  Lynn  before  the  Black  Hawk  War.  During  that 
struggle  they  went  to  Forts  Clark  and  Henderson  for  safety. 

About  1834,  William  Dunbar  bought  the  improvements  of 
one  of  the  Frakers  on  a  portion  of  Section  13,  and  entered  the 
land,  going  to  Galena  by  wagon,  with  two  yoke  of  oxen,  to  do 
so.  He  came  from  Kentucky,  and,  being  a  hatter  by  trade, 
burnished  fur  hats  to  the  neighborhood,  peddling  them  on 
horseback.  Mrs.  Theodore  Hurd  says  that  when  she,  a  girl 
of  twelve  years,  came  here  with  her  father  (Luther  Driscoll)  in 
1836)  they  found  twelve  families  here,  settlement  being  known 
as  Fraker's  Grove ;  not  all  of  it  in  Lynn,  however,  as  the  east 
township  line  ran  through  the  middle  of  it. 

In  1836,  on  Walnut  Creek  there  were  only  John  Lafferty, 
on  Section  36;  the  Montgomery  boys,  on  Section  35;  Samuel 
Albro  (who  was  a  soldier  of  the  War  of  1812  and  settled  on 
land  patented  to  him  for  his  military  service),  on  Section  34; 
John  Essex  and  the  Talors,  south  of  the  creek  near  Centenille ; 
and  Hugh  and  Barney  Frail,  on  Section  31.  Mrs.  Hugh  Frail 
was  the  pioneer  sister  of  the  Gravers  and  the  Collinsons,  who 
followed,  from  time  to  time,  settling  that  corner  of  the  town- 
ship. By  1838  the  population  had  increased  considerably. 
Jonathan  Gibbs  came  then,  and  purchased  the  Montgomery 
property  on  Section  35,  where  he  lived  until  his  death.  He  was 
always  a  leading  man  in  the  township,  a  Justice  for  twenty- 
five  years  and  Supervisor  for  half  that  period.  About  this 
time  also  came  Elison  Annis,  who  settled  on  land  patented  to 
him  for  service  in  the  War  of  1812;  Solomon  Brooks,  John  Sis- 
son,  Ralph  Hurley  and  Elder  Shaw,  all  from  Ohio,  and  origin- 
ally from  Maine.  They  were  old  neighbors,  and  were  members 
of  the  Free  Will  Baptist  Church.  Soon  after  coming  they  or- 
ganized the  Walnut  Creek  Baptist  Church.  Elder  Shaw  and 
Luther  Driscoll  for  years  acting  as  pastors.    It  is  now  extinct. 

Peter  Hagar,  Simeon  Collinson,  the  Sniders  and  Edward 
Selon  were  early.  Mr.  Selon  had  been  mate  on  an  ocean  vessel 
and  in  one  of  his  last  voyages  across  the  ocean  the  Charles 
family  were  passengers  on  his  ship.  One  of  them  he  soon  after 
married.  Another  daughter  is  Mrs.  Ira  Reed,  of  this  township 
and  Mr.  Charles,  of  Round  Grove,  Henry  County,  who  was  the 
first  man  married  on  the  Stark  county  side  of  the  Fraker 
settlement,  is  a  member  of  the  same  family.  In  1836,  there 
was  a  rather  large  immigration  from  Goshen,  Connecticut,  for 
which  Goshen  township  in  Stark  county  was  named.  Captain 
Gere  and  William  and  Ira  Reed  were  among  these  settlers.  In 
1840,  came  a  considerable  number  of  Mormons,  but  most  of  the 
latter  remained  only  a  short  time. 


129 

The  first  tavern  opened  was  that  of  Mr.  Dunbar,  who  so 
used  his  own  home,  but  in  1846,  Nathan  Barlow  opened  the 
"Traveler's  Home,"  on  Section  24.  It  was  on  the  Chicago  trail 
and  the  stage  road,  and  hence  afforded  accommodations  much 
needed  at  the  time. 

Population  increased  slowly  until  the  railroad  was  pro- 
jected. That  was  the  ending  of  the  old,  and  the  beginning  of 
the  new  era  in  the  history  of  Lynn.  J.  A.  Beal's  relation  to  the 
township  began  in  this  transition  period.  Proximity  to  the 
railroad  influenced  his  selection  of  a  small  piece  of  land  for  a 
future  home,  on  the  then  unbroken  prairie.  The  following 
spring  his  wedding  trip  from  the  home  in  Vermont  was  be- 
gun by  rail,  and  finished  by  stage  at  Victoria.  The  ending  was 
a  little  analogous  to  the  overturning  of  the  old  by  the  new.  It 
was  a  frosty  March  morning  when  the  stage  stopped  at  Vic- 
toria, with  two  newly  wedded  couples,  the  destination  of  one 
of  which  was  Galesburg.  The  wife  whose  journey  had  ended 
and  the  husband  who  had  yet  to  reach  Galesburg  both  stepped 
out.  The  driver  had  dropped  the  reins  and  was  at  the  boot, 
removing  the  baggage.  The  horses,  impatient  with  cold  and 
excited  by  their  drive,  suddenly  started  on  the  run  and  made 
a  short  turn  to  the  Reynolds  barn.  In  a  moment's  time  the 
startled  travelers  were  standing  on  their  heads  (to  judge  from 
the  way  they  felt  and  looked  afterwards)  inside  the  coach. 
The  shock  was  but  for  a  moment,  though  the  impression  was 
that  they  were  being  dragged,  and  that  something  was  yet  to 
happen ;  the  side  door  was  above  them  and  open ;  the  hind 
wheel  was  revolving ;  and  the  head  of  the  young  wife  was  soon 
at  the  opening  inquiring  if  "we  were  hurt  in  there."  The  stage 
had  uncoupled  in  the  overturn,  and  three  horses  had  dragged 
the  fourth  and  the  front  wheels  to  the  barn. 

The  first  physician  at  the  Fraker  settlement  was  Dr. 
Nicols ;  at  Centerville,  Dr.  Spaulding.  Mr.  Leek  built  the  first 
saw  mill,  in  1837,  at  Centerville,  and  later  Jonathan  Gibbs  put 
up  a  second.  The  first  log  school  house,  used  also  for  meetings, 
was  built  prior  to  1836,  by  volunteer  labor,  near  the  home  of 
the  Dunbars,  in  the  edge  of  the  grove.  Squire  Fitch  and  Maria 
Lake  were  the  earliest  teachers.  Later,  a  school  house  was 
built  near  Fraker's.  Dr.  Nicols  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the 
first  teachers.  One  of  the  early  pedagogues  at  the  Centerville 
school  was  a  boy  of  eighteen,  who,  in  1863,  became  General 
Henderson,  and  afterward  was  a  member  of  Congress.  Anna 
Shaw,  Betsy  Smith  and  Catherine  Annis  were  early  residents, 
the  last  named  teaching  for  a  time  in  a  log  house  near  the 
Frails.  In  1841,  James  Jackson  was  appointed  school  trustee, 
and  made  two  districts  of  the  township,  which  till  then  had 
formed  but  one.  There  are  now  1899,  eight  frame  school 
houses,  worth  about  nine  thousand  dollars.  None  of  the  schools 


130 

is  graded,  and  the  aggregate  attendance  at  that  time  was  about 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  pupils. 

Besides  regular  services  provided  at  Centerville  by  Revs. 
Shaw  and  Driscoll,  there  were  circuit  ministers,  who  had  regu- 
lar appointments  to  meet  the  people.  Jonathan  Hodgson,  one 
of  the  earliest  settlers  at  the  Grove,  became  a  local  Methodist 
preacher.  He  was  a  man  of  influence  in  the  settlement,  a 
Probate  Justice  while  a  resident  of  the  State,  and  a  radical 
anti-slavery  man.  At  the  time  of  the  Kansas  struggle  he  cast 
in  his  lot  with  the  free-soilers.  He  became  so  much  interested 
in  the  work  of  Jonas  Hedstrom,  at  Victoria,  that  he  learned 
enough  of  the  Swedish  language  to  preach  to  people  of  that 
nationality  in  their  own  tongue.  Edward  Selon  also  became  a 
minister,  and  Rev.  Alba  Gross  preached  as  well  as  farmed,  un- 
til called  to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Galva  in  1857.  Though  there 
has  never  been  a  church  building  in  the  township,  the  school 
houses  have  been  freely  opened  to  Sunday  schools  and  relig- 
ious meetings. 

In  the  presidential  election  of  1840,  the  polling  place  for 
both  Lynn  and  Walnut  Grove  was  at  Centerville ;  four  years 
later  at  the  school  house  near  the  Frails',  Squire  Ward  being 
one  of  those  in  charge.  The  practice  of  betting  on  elections 
dates  back  at  least  to  this  time,  for  James  Jackson  lost  and  Dr. 
Nicols  won  a  pair  of  trousers  on  that  election. 

The  grist  mill  and  the  market  involved  much  labor  and 
forethought  for  the  early  settlers.  The  first  grist  which  Wil- 
liam Dunbar  sent  away  went  as  far  as  Tazewell  county,  and  in 
1838  the  nearest  points  of  shipment  were  Canton  and  Moline. 
After  getting  to  the  mill  one  often  had  to  wait  for  two  weeks 
for  his  turn  to  grind.  It  can  be  imagined  what  a  convenience 
was  even  the  little  hand  mill  of  Mr.  Fraker. 

One  winter  Jonathan  Gibbs  contracted  to  deliver  a  drove 
of  hogs  at  Peoria  on  a  certain  date.  Deep  snow  came,  and  ' 
order  to  fulfill  his  agreement  he  made  a  snow  plow,  of  two 
planks,  set  on  edge  and  wedge-shaped.  A  yoke  of  oxen  was 
hitched  to  this  and  driven  ahead,  making  a  path  in  which 
the  pigs  could  walk. 

Recreation  was  not  entirely  neglected.  Social  life,  where 
there  were  so  few,  perhaps  meant  more  than  it  does  now.  A 
wolf  hunt  took  not  only  the  men  with  their  guns,  but  the 
women  with  their  kettles,  chickens  and  potatoes,  to  make 
chicken  pies  for  the  tired  hunters.  The  pies  were  baked  out 
of  doors  in  twenty-five  gallon  kettles,  set  over  the  coals. 

Lynn  was  organized  in  1853,  by  the  election  of  Jonathan 
Hodgson,  Supervisor;  I.  S.  Smith,  Clerk;  William  A.  Reed, 
Assessor;  A.  Gross,  Collector;  Erastus  Smith,  Overseer  of  the 
Poor;  S.  G.  Albro,  John  Lafferty,  and  H.  A.  Grant,  Highway 
Commissioners ;  John  Hodgson  and  John  Gibbs,  Justices ;  John 
Snider,  Constable. 


13i 

MAQUON  TOWNSHIP 
From  Sketch  by  Dr.  J.  L.  Knowles 

In  1827,  ten  years  subsequent  to  the  original  survey  of  this 
military  tract,  William  Palmer  and  family,  consisting  of  his 
wife  and  five  children,  located  on  the  southwest  quarter  of 
Section  3,  about  forty  rods  southeast  of  the  present  limits  of 
Maquon  Village.  This  was  doubtless  the  first  white  family  to 
settle  in  Knox  county.  Mr.  Palmer's  cabin,  made  of  black 
hickory  poles,  stood  in  the  midst  of  Indian  gardens,  which  were 
usually  deserted  by  the  savages  in  early  spring  in  favor  of  bet- 
ter hunting  grounds  farther  west.  They  returned  every  fall 
to  remain  during  the  winter,  until  the  year  1832,  when,  as  a 
result  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  they  took  a  final  leave  and  that 
neighborhood  knew  them  no  more.  Mr.  Palmer  lived  here  five 
or  six  years,  planted  an  orchard  and  cultivated  the  gardens,  or 
patches  vacated  by  the  Indians,  and,  as  his  cabin  stood  on  the 
old  Galena  trail,  it  afforded  a  stopping  place  for  the  miners 
going  to  and  from  their  homes  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
state.  A  few  years  later  Palmer  sold  his  cabin  to  Nelson  Selby 
and  removed  to  St.  Louis. 

The  following  year  Simeon  Dolph,  the  pioneer  ferryman  of 
Spoon  River,  settled  on  Section  4,  building  his  cabin  of  logs 
where  the  Rathbun  house  now  stands.  Owing,  however,  to  a 
suspicion  of  his  having  been  implicated  in  the  death  of  an  un- 
known traveler,  he  left  the  community  a  short  time  afterwards. 

In  1829,  Mark  Thurman,  with  his  family,  settled  on  Sec- 
tion 25,  and  one  of  his  daughters,  Mrs.  Hughs  Thurman,  of 
Yates  City,  is  recalled  as  one  of  the  oldest  residents  of  the 
county.  The  next  year  the  families  of  William  Darnell,  Wil- 
liam Parmer,  Thomas  Thurman  and  James  Milam  settled  on 
Sections  24  and  25.  They  all  came  from  Highland  county, 
Ohio.  Subsequently  a  small,  but  regular  and  ever-increasing 
stream  of  settlers  took  up  claims  in  the  township,  until  in  1837, 
it  was  thought  a  favorable  opportunity  had  arrived  for  laying 
out  a  village,  which  was  called  Maquon.  This  is  of  Indian 
origin,  signifying  spoon.  Sapol  means  river,  and  as  the  stream 
bearing  this  name  assumes  somewhat  the  shape  of  a  spoon 
from  source  to  mouth,  it  was  called  Maquon  Sapol,  or  Spoon 
River. 

This  township  was  one  of  the  chief  Indian  settlements  in 
the  state,  and  here  were  congregated  families  of  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes  and  Pottawattomies.  Their  principal  village  was  located 
on  the  present  site  of  Maquon  as  here  the  Indian  trails  centered 
from  all  directions  in  pioneer  days.  A  vast  number  of  Indian 
relics  have  been  and  are  still  being  unearthed  in  the  vicinity, 
and  there  are  a  great  many  mounds  scattered  about  the  neigh- 
borhood, the  most  prominent  being  the  Barbero  mound,  which 


132 

is  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  the  Aborigines  and  to  contain 
human  remains.  Maquon  is  well  drained  by  Spoon  River  and 
the  many  small  tributaries  that  flow  into  it,  fine  timberlands 
abound  throughout  the  township,  and  about  one-half  of  the 
surface  is  underlaid  with  an  excellent  quality  of  bituminous 
coal.  The  township  organization  was  completed  in  1853,  by  the 
election  of  James  M.  Foster  as  Supervisor;  Nathan  Barbero, 
Assessor,  and  James  L  Loman,  Collector. 

The  first  school  house  in  the  township  was  built  of  logs  in 
1834  on  Section  23,  or,  to  locate  it  more  accurately,  about 
eighty  rods  west  of  where  James  Young's  dwelling  now  stands. 
The  first  teacher  in  that  building  was  Benjamin  Brock.  The 
next  house  to  be  devoted  to  educational  purposes  was  erected 
in  1836  or  1837,  and  was  situated  about  fifty  rods  south  of 
Bennington.  The  first  school  north  of  Spoon  River  was  con- 
ducted by  Miss  Mary  Fink  in  a  shed  adjoining  the  residence  of 
Peter  Jones,  a  father  of  John  Jones,  at  one  time  postmaster. 
The  only  reading  book  at  that  time  was  the  New  Testament. 
It  is  claimed  by  some  of  Miss  Fmk's  pupils,  that  she  could  read 
and  write,  but  could  not  "cipher."  However,  notwithstanding 
this  defect  in  her  education,  it  was  said  that  her  labors  were 
most  commendable  and  satisfactory. 

The  township  at  first  contained  the  three  villages  of 
Maquon,  Bennington  and  Rapatee.  Bennington  was  originally 
laid  out  in  the  center  of  the  precinct  in  1836  by  Elisha  Thur- 
man,  but  it  failed  to  develop  sufficient  importance  to  be  called 
a  village,  although  it  was  the  township's  polling  place  until 
1858,  when  the  name  was  changed  to  Maquon. 

The  township  is  justly  proud  of  its  unbounded  patriotism 
some  of  its  residents  having  taken  part  in  three  of  the  nation's 
most  important  wars.  Among  the  early  pioneers  of  the  town- 
ship were  Philip  Rhodes,  John  W.  Walters  and  John  M.  Combs, 
who  were  soldiers  in  the  War  of  1812.  Avery  Dalton,  who 
lived  to  a  great  old  age  and  who  has  furnished  much  informa- 
tion of  the  early  history  of  Maquon  township,  and  Madison  Fos- 
ter, deceased  were  members  of  the  Fulton  County  Rangers  in 
the  Black  Hawk  War,  The  rifle  carried  by  Mr.  Foster  while  in 
service  is  now  owned  by  his  son,  Albert,  and  is  in  a  good  state 
of  preservation,  the  old  flint  lock  having  been  replaced  by  one 
of  more  modern  manufacture.  A  full  quota  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  soldiers  was  furnished  during  the  Civil  War,  many  of 
whom  died  on  the  field  of  battle  fighting  for  the  Union,  while 
others  still  survive  and  occasionally  live  over  again  one  of  the 
most  exciting  epochs  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

The  first  birth  and  the  first  death  to  occur  in  the  township 
was  that  of  Rebecca,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thurman,  in 
1831.     The  first  marriage  took  place  on  Christmas,  1834,  the 


133 

contracting  parties  being  Elisha  Thurman  and  Anna  Hall,  and 
the  first  postmaster  was  William  McGown,  who  held  that  posi- 
tion in  1837.  The  first  bridge  across  Spoon  River  built  in  1839, 
by  Jacob  Conser,  but  it  subsequently  collapsed  by  its  own 
weight  and  was  re-built  by  Mr.  Conser  the  following  year.  It 
was  located  almost  directly  south  of  the  village  of  Maquon. 
The  second  bridge  was  erected  by  Benoni  Simpkins,  in  1851, 
a  few  rods  below  the  site  of  the  present  structure,  which  was 
built  in  1873.  The  stone  work  was  done  by  J.  L.  Burkhalter 
and  John  Hall,  the  wood  work  by  Andy  Johnson,  and  the  iron 
work  by  Mr.  Blakesly,  of  Ohio.  The  first  distillery  in  Knox 
county  was  situated  in  Maquon  and  it  furnished  the  cargo  for 
the  first  shipment  from  Galesburg  over  the  Chicago,  Burling- 
ton and  Quincy  Railroad. 

Maquon  township  is  known  for  its  excellent  schools  and  its 
history  is  of  large  interest. 

Note :  The  positive  statement  by  Dr.  Knowles  regarding 
the  William  Palmer  family  seems  definitely  to  fix  Palmer  as 
the  earliest  settler  in  the  county. 


134 

ONTARIO  TOWNSHIP 
By  Hugh  Greig" 

While  it  is  true  that  no  well  defined  Indian  trail  crossed, 
in  any  direction,  this  township,  yet  there  is  indisputable  evi- 
dence that  the  Redman  was  a  frequent  visitor.  The  large  num- 
ber of  arrow  points  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Pilot  Knob  prove 
this.  The  point  named  is  one  of  the  few  decided  elevations  in 
what  is  now  Knox  County  and  must  have  been  used  in  times 
innumerable  by  the  Indians  to  watch  the  coming  or  going  of  a 
friend,  or  to  detect  the  stealthy  approach  of  a  dusky  enemy. 

The  area  in  timber  was  much  too  limited  to  furnish  an 
ideal  hunting  ground,  and  no  living  spring  now  known  could 
have  supplied  water  for  any  large  number  of  people.  There- 
fore, Pilot  Knob,  despite  its  sightliness,  lacked  many  qualifi- 
cations which  could  induce  the  wanderer  to  make  of  it  an  abid- 
ing place. 

That  there  were  large  numbers  of  magnificent  trees  near- 
by and  in  every  direction,  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  a  waving 
ocean  of  tallest  grasses,  proving  the  unsurpassed  richness  of 
the  soil  was  to  the  Indian  a  matter  of  little  or  no  importance. 

It  is  quite  probable  that  more  than  a  century  before  the 
white  man,  as  a  settler,  looked  on  this  rich,  rolling  prairie  land, 
the  explorer  on  his  way  from  the  Illinois  to  the  Mississippi 
or  vice  versa,  had  traversed  this  region  and  unquestionably  the 
hunter  of  a  much  later  date  had  stood  on  Pilot  and  in  ever 
more  than  fancy  "was  monarch  of  all  he  surveyed." 

However,  though  explorers  and  hunters  have  a  place  in 
history,  a  place  which  bold,  venturesome  men  only  can  fill,  still 
it  is  of  a  truth  he  and  she  who  are  possessors  of  or  possessed 
by  the  ideas  of  the  settler,  the  settler  who  squats  on  a  defin- 
ite spot  of  earth,  in  some  legal  form  obtains  the  squatters  right 
to  stay  and  stays.  Such  is  the  germ  from  which  in  due  time 
Ontario  township,  Knox  County,  Illinois,  the  nation  is  made. 

And  if  we  are  to  judge  the  Ontario  of  today  and  of  all  the 
succeeding  tomorrows  by  the  all  around  make  up  of  the  early 
settlers  we  may  well  be  thankful  and  take  courage,  for  were 
they  not  all  or  nearly  all  the  not  distant  descendants  of  those 
who  made  homes,  built  schools  and  churches,  fought  Indians 
and  brought  a  thousands  smiles  to  the  flinty  face  of  sterile 
New  England,  and  some  in  the  morning  of  their  manhood  as- 
sisted in  Central  New  York  by  arduous  labor  in  transforming  a 
forest  into  a  farm ;  and  though  here  they  found  the  unbroken 
prairie  a  new  problem,  its  solution  was  simple  in  comparison; 
it  is  true  the  implements  needed  were  different,  the  skill  to  pro- 
duce them  was  not  yet  acquired,  but  here  was  the  soil,  stubborn 
indeed,  but  not  more  so  than  the  settler.  With  a  plow  largely  of 


135 

timber,  much  prairie  was  brought  under  cultivation ;  corn  was 
planted,  not  with  a  planter  and  check-rower,  but  with  an  axe, 
in  due  time  this  gave  place  to  the  hoe,  and  as  evolution  seems 
to  be  a  universal  law  the  two-horse  planter  came  and  stays. 

Besides  the  corn,  all  the  grains  suitable  to  our  soil  and 
climate  were  sown  and  rich  were  the  rewards  of  the  husband- 
man. One  crop  now  never  seen  in  this  township  was  to  a 
limited  extent  grown,  viz.,  flax,  and  not  only  grown,  but  by 
skilled  and  willing  hands  became  by  much  patient  labor  a  part 
of  the  clothing  of  the  almost  moneyless  early  settlers,  and  in 
even  this  year  of  grace  and  carnage  this  writer  was  shown  a 
considerable  sample  of  linen  fabric,  the  flax  from  which  it  had 
been  made  grew  on  Section  31,  Ontario  township,  the  home  for 
more  than  sixty  years  of  G.  W.  Melton,  Mrs.  Melton  and  family, 
and  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  aforesaid  Mrs.  Melton 
with  her  own  hands  heckeled,  spun  and  wove  the  linen  cloth  to 
the  writer  shown. 

In  the  same  year  but  previous  to  Mr.  Melton's  arrival,  an 
Alexander  Williams  had  fenced  and  plowed  some  twenty  acres 
on  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  30  and  therefore,  so  far  as 
known,  was  the  first  settler  in  the  township,  who  evidently 
intended  to  remain.  However,  in  1836  he  sold  his  holdings  to 
I.  M.  Wetmore.  The  latter  became  one  of  the  large  landholders 
in  the  neighborhood  and  in  all  his  after  years  was  a  most  prom- 
inent and  successful  farmer.  And  though  the  name,  Wetmore, 
is  less  common  than  in  the  early  days  it  is  still  with  us  and 
with  a  goodly  number  of  others  in  a  most  interesting  and  pleas- 
ant way  links  the  present  with  the  past. 

As  stated,  a  goodly  number  of  names  familiar  in  the  early 
daj^s  are  still  here,  yet  it  is  very  true  that  a  large  and  increas- 
ing percentage  of  our  land  owners  and  tenant  farmers  can  and 
do  speak  an  alien  tongue,  but  we  all  know  by  evidence  that 
cannot  be  gainsaid  that  alien  speech  is  no  indication  of  alien 
sentiment.  When  we  bear  in  mind  that  perhaps  even  a  major- 
ity of  our  voters  are  of  foreign  birth  or  are  the  children  of 
those  who  hail  from  the  land  of  Thor,  and  also  recognize  the 
fact  that  when  the  R.  C,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.„  the  K.  of  C.  or  other 
similar  agencies  let  it  be  known  that  funds  are  needed  in  their 
ceaseless  works  of  mercy,  Ontario  has  unhesitatingly  gone  over 
the  top. 

In  the  matter  of  the  various  bond  selling  campaigns,  over 
the  top  is  simply  considered  the  normal  thing.  This,  however, 
is  usually  looked  on  as  a  fairly  good  investment ;  yet  take  it  all 
in  all,  the  profit,  the  real  profit,  that  which  never  tarnishes,  is 
that  derived  from  that  giving  where  nothing  is  returned  in 
kind.  But  to  speak  of  the  cold  facts  of  history  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  mention  that  while  settlers  were  few,  money  almost  unbe- 
lieveably  scarce,  yet  the  matter  of  education  was  not  forgotten, 


136 

for  in  1839,  a  school  house  was  built  on  the  Northwest  Quarter 
of  Section  32.  Just  in  what  manner  the  project  was  financed 
we  do  not  know,  we  only  know  that  the  free  school  system  or 
anything  much  resembling  it  had  not  yet  arrived ;  we  have  no 
reason  to  believe  that  the  curriculum  was  very  varied.  All,  no 
doubt,  had  at  times  an  uncomfortable  amount  of  fresh  air;  as 
has  been  hinted  the  course  of  study  was  somewhat  brief,  but  as 
was  proved  on  many  subsequent  occasions,  the  pupils  graduated 
having,  in  the  words  of  John  Hay,  "a  middling  tight  grip  on 
the  handful  of  things  they  knew." 

The  first  teacher  was  Sally  Ann  Belden.  The  school  house 
for  several  years  was  used  for  religious  services,  and  as  denom- 
inational lines  were  not  strictly  drawn,  the  preacher  of  the 
occasion  was  not  questioned  very  closely  as  to  his  beliefs  or  un- 
beliefs on  doctrinal  matters. 

There  are  now  in  the  township  eight  rural  schools,  and 
while  all  of  them  have  been  to  some  extent  remodeled  and 
greatly  improved  in  general  appearance  externally  and  in- 
ternally, the  course  of  study  has  become  practically  uniform; 
the  teachers  in  a  knowledge  of  teaching  methods  and  in  schol- 
arly equipment  far  surpass  those  of  the  so-called  good  old  days 
of  long  ago.  The  Oneida  district,  officially  known  as  No.  27, 
is  what  is  known  as  a  graded  school.  Four  teachers  are  em- 
ployed and  all  pupils  who  successfully  pass  the  eighth  grade 
are  eligible  to  enter  the  High  school.  The  latter  which  is  con- 
ducted in  the  same  building,  employs  four  teachers,  each  of 
whom  we  are  glad  to  say  is  a  graduate  of  a  State  University 
or  College  in  good  standing,  and  pupils  honorably  finishing  the 
four  year  course  are,  provided  they  have  made  the  best  of  their 
opportunities,  able  to  enter  any  college  in  our  state. 

Every  girl  or  boy  in  this  township  is  in  some  High  school 
district  or  in  non-High  school  territoiy  which  amounts  to  the 
same  thing.  And  yet,  sad  to  say,  very  many  of  our  young 
people  never  pass  the  eighth  grade  and  some  never  reach  it. 

It  was  a  number  of  years  after  the  establishment  of  the 
first  school  when  the  township  became  a  political  unit,  the 
first  Supervisor  was  Edward  Crane ;  Clerk,  W.  J.  Savage ;  As- 
sessor, J.  Burt;  Collector,  E.  C.  Brott;  Overseer  of  the  Poor, 
T.  F.  P.  Wetmore.  They  also  had  constables  and  highway  com- 
missioners. It  is  not  all  likely  that  the  latter  gentlemen  were 
at  any  time  urged  to  use  their  influence  in  favor  of  hard  roads, 
and  if  their  successors  ever  have  been  the  good  advice  given 
them  appears  to  have  been  wasted.  The  justices  of  the  peace 
were  E.  Chapman  and  T.  E.  Mosher. 

The  names  of  the  supervisors  who  until  the  present  time 
have  succeeded  Mr.  Crane,  are  as  follows :  J.  Hammond,  W.  B. 
LeBaron,  J.  Hammond,  W.  B.  LeBaron,  A.  S.  Curtis,  0.  Beadle, 


137 

E.  Crane,  A.  S.  Curtis,  G.  L.  Stephenson,  0.  L.  Fay,  G.  E.  Fred- 
ericks, Hugh  Grieg,  J.  J.  Clearwater.  There  is  in  the  town- 
ship but  one  village,  Oneida.  It  was  platted  in  the  autumn  of 
1854  by  C.  F.  Camp,  B.  T.  West  and  S.  V.  R.  Holmes.  It  is  said 
that  there  was  no  intention  on  the  part  of  railroad  officials  to 
have  a  station  at  that  point  but  there  were  more  convincing 
inducements  presented  at  that  time  to  the  needy  company  chief 
of  which  was  a  gift  by  C.  F.  Camp  of  a  plot  of  ground  500x1,000 
feet,  on  which  at  this  date  are  the  R.  R.  Station,  two  grain 
elevators,  various  other  buildings,  and  last  and  greatest  is  the 
beauty  spot  of  the  village,  the  little  park  which  is  the  admir- 
ation of  all,  and  as  the  years  come  and  go  the  home  one  and 
the  passing  traveler  notes  the  deep  green  sward,  the  clumps  of 
shrubbery  each  in  its  season  blossom  tinted,  the  spreading 
branches  of  the  elms,  maples,  chestnuts  giving  promise  of  the 
future  forest  shade  where  all  can  realize  it,  if  they  will  that 
our  pagan  ancesters  were  not  far  amiss  when  they,  in  the 
shady  woodland's  "dim  religious  light"  saw  a  temple  in  which 
they  did  and  we  might  worship  God. 

The  writer  calls  Oneida  a  village,  and,  as  he  thinks  rightly, 
so  as  more  befitting  our  small  and  sadly  diminishing  numbers, 
still  it  has  a  city  charter,  a  special  charter  by  the  way.  How- 
ever, it  is  quite  doubtful  if  the  makers  thereof  could  today  rec- 
ognize their  handiwork.  It  will  interest  some  to  know  that 
Oneida's  first  school  was  built  in  1855,  and  its  first  teacher  was 
Mary  Allen  West,  who  later  became  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  and  in  such  position  and  in  others  subsequently  filled, 
she  not  only  raised  the  standard  of  scholarship  among  the 
teachers  but  raised  the  standard  of  civic  righteousness  in  every 
community  that  knew  her  presence. 

The  village,  as  has  been  noted,  has  two  grain  elevators, 
two  banks,  the  First  National  and  the  Anderson  State  Bank ; 
we  have  had  and  now  have  a  weekly  paper,  the  Oneida  News,  a 
Masonic  lodge  with  a  large  membership,  a  Modern  Woodmen 
Camp,  a  Mystic  Workers  Insurance  Company,  two  Woman's 
Clubs,  which  are  decidedly  helpful  in  a  social  and  literary  way. 
There  is  also  an  organization  known  as  the  Oneida-Altona 
Branch  of  the  Knox  County  Free  Kindergarten,  and  out  of  this 
has  grown  what  may  be  called  an  auxiliary.  The  latter  is  wholly 
composed  of  farm  wives  and  daughters,  and  has  its  centre  in 
that  intangible,  but  yet  very  real,  something  known  as  Ontario. 
The  meetings  are  no  doubt  beneficial  in  a  social  way,  but  it  is 
the  sentiment  of  the  heart  materialized  by  the  hands  that  on 
many,  very  many  occasions  brings  cheer  to  the  little  homeless 
ones  in  the  Galesburg  Kindergarten. 

The  Church  in  Ontario  Township 

In  1840  the  Presbyterians  planned  and  in  a  measure  ef- 


138 

fected  an  organization,  which  so  far  as  now  known  in  a  short 
time  as  such  disappeared.  The  same  denomination  again  in 
1863,  probably  as  a  result  of  the  seed  sown  in  1840,  took  the 
necessary  steps  to  found  a  church  in  Oneida,  and  in  1865  one 
was  erected.  The  building  was  completely  destroyed  by  a  wind- 
storm in  1868.  A  new  church  was  immediately  erected  and  has 
been  added  to,  the  interior  remodeled,  the  congregation  is  out 
of  debt,  has  a  resident  pastor,  but  the  membership  is  slowly 
but  constantly  diminishing. 

In  that  part  of  Ontario  township  which  is  known  as  On- 
tario, paranthetically  it  may  be  said,  that  this  section  has  a 
social  center  of  its  own ;  it  is  really  a  community  within  a  com- 
munity, although  not  nearly  so  much  so  as  in  the  days  that 
are  gone;  yet  it  still  exists,  resembling  some  of  the  European 
States,  however  small.  The  Ontarioans  are  staunch  believers 
in  autonomy,  and  this  being  so  the  settlers  who  favored  the 
congregational  system  of  church  management  came  together  in 
1848  and  discussed  the  feasibility  of  organizing  a  church  of 
this  denomination,  and  in  1852  the  church  which  is  still  in 
existence,  was  erected ;  there  has  been  no  resident  pastor  for  a 
number  of  years  and  though  preaching  services  are  occasion- 
ally held  it  would  seem  to  an  unbiased  onlooker  that  the  end  of 
the  Ontario  Congregational  church  is  near  at  hand. 

About  the  same  time  in  the  same  communuity  a  certain 
number,  who,  from  the  old  eastern  home,  had  brought  cer- 
tain inherited  theological  ideas  which  to  them  seemed  essen- 
tial, decided  to  build  a  Baptist  church.  Such  was  built ;  also  a 
parsonage,  and  for  many  years  preaching  services  were  regu- 
larly held.  However,  for  a  considerable  time  no  services  were 
held,  the  church  building  was  demolished,  the  parsonage  sold, 
the  society  disbanded,  and  the  place  which  knew  it,  and  knew 
it  for  its  good,  will  in  all  probability  know  it  no  more. 

In  1852,  in  the  neighborhood  of  what  is  now  Oneida,  a  Con- 
gregational Society  was  formed.  In  1855  the  church  building, 
which  is  still  the  property  of  the  society,  was  built,  has  had  an 
eventful  and  most  useful  existence,  but  the  church  is  pastor- 
less,  with  slight  signs  of  rejuvenation.  There  are  still  mem- 
bers of  the  church  and  of  the  society  who  hope  and  look  for- 
ward to  a  new  life  for  their  beloved  church,  and  for  them  and 
for  the  community  as  a  whole  such  a  consumation  is  to  be 
wished. 

The  Oneida  Methodist  church  was  built  in  1863.  It  was 
a  live  organization  to  begin  with,  all  its  past  history  proves 
that  it  has  not  lost  its  pristine  enthusiasm,  and  in  keeping  with 
its  inner  life  its  material  progress  is  well  shown  in  the  new 
brick  edifice  which  occupies  and  graces  the  site  of  the  old 
wooden  structure,  and  at  this  writing  a  new,  handsome  brick 
veneered  parsonage  is  nearing  completion. 


139 

Sometime  between  1850  and  1860  a  Baptist  and  a  Uni- 
versalist  church  were  built  in  Oneida.  The  latter  was  destroyed 
by  fire;  was  rebuilt,  but  was  wrecked  by  a  windstorm.  The 
Baptist  church  was  demolished  at  the  same  time  and  neither 
was  ever  rebuilt.  There  was  also  a  Lutheran  organization 
which  at  no  time  had  more  than  thirty  members,  its  existence 
was  brief  as  its  list  of  members.  The  Seven  Day  Adventists 
had  a  place  of  worship  for  a  short  time.  Church  and  church 
goers  have  disappeared. 

There  is  also  on  Section  1  a  Christian  church.  It  has  al- 
ways been  numerically  weak  and  in  common  with  all,  or  nearly 
all  Ontario  churches,  it  is  not  only  weak,  but  constantly  be- 
coming weaker. 

It  would  appear  from  the  foregoing  that  at  some  time 
there  have  been  in  Ontario  township  ten  religious  societies,  at 
least  eight  have  had  places  of  worship.  At  present  there  are 
but  two  congregations  having  resident  pastors — the  Methodist 
and  Presbyterian.  For  this  condition  there  may  be  many 
reasons  given.  It  is  true  that  there  are  a  less  number  of  in- 
habitants in  the  township,  and  a  smaller  percentage  of  the 
lesser  number  are  church  goers,  and  again  there  is  a  Swedish 
Lutheran  Church  in  Altona,  where  a  large  number  of  the  older 
people  of  our  township  regularly  attend  public  worship.  On 
such  occasions  they  meet  with  friends  of  kindred  speech  and 
from  the  pulpit  hear  the  words  to  memory  dear  and  sing  the 
songs  they  first  heard  in  their  old  home,  "over  there."  There 
is  also  a  church  of  the  same  denomination  in  Wataga  and 
though  not  so  largely  attended  as  that  in  Altona  still  quite 
a  number  of  families  from  the  southern  side  of  Ontario  are 
attendants  and  members.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  extreme 
north  of  the  township,  the  people  here  going  to  Woodhull. 

However,  it  will  have  to  be  admitted  that  the  chief  cause 
of  the  decadence  and  disappearance  of  churches  is  the  fact  that 
a  large  and  increasing  number  of  people  never  go  to  any  church 
and  another  large,  and  perhaps  increasing,  number,  seldom  go. 
Neither  class  mentioned  can  be  depended  on  as  a  liberal  giver 
to  any  department  of  church  work,  and  churches  need  friends. 

However,  in  the  not  distant  future  all  three  societies,  Al- 
tona, Wataga,  Woodhull,  in  all  their  meetings  will  use  and  use 
only  the  English  tongue.  In  that  case  will  the  present  average 
church  attendance  prevail,  or  will  decadence  and,  in  many  in- 
stances, disintegration  take  place? 

Yet  even  if  the  church  as  the  embodiment  of  Christianity 
should  largely  or  wholly  pass,  would  not  that  something  in  it 
which  is  greater  than  itself  continue  to  live,  ever,  ever  march- 
ing on. 


140 

ORANGE  TOWNSHIP 
From  Sketch  by  John  C.  Eiker 

Orange,  as  a  present  defined  and  bounded,  was  one  of  the 
first  townships  in  the  county  to  attract  the  attention  of  early 
immigrants  to  northern  Illinois,  and  the  pioneers  were  not 
wholly  free  from  fear  of  predatory  visits  from  the  aboriginal 
owners  of  the  soil.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  in  1830 — the 
year  the  first  settlers  arrived — the  Indians  were  migrating  to 
the  west,  and  the  comparatively  few  of  them  remained.  A 
blockhouse  was  erected,  however,  in  1830,  or  '31,  and  the  mur- 
der of  a  white  man  by  a  straggling  band  of  hostile  savages 
during  the  Black  Hawk  War  threw  the  small  community  into  a 
ferment  of  apprehension. 

The  township  is  crossed  by  several  well  defined  trails. 
That  which  is  known  as  the  Peorian  and  Galena  runs  diagonally 
from  northwest  to  southeast,  passing  also  through  Knox, 
crossing  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  present  city  of  Knox- 
ville,  A  little  to  the  west  of  this  is  another,  which  crosses 
Brush  Creek,  in  Section  30,  and  forms  a  sort  of  pathway  from 
that  stream  to  the  headwaters  of  Haw  Creek,  Several  Indian 
graves  have  been  found  and  their  traces  are  yet  plainly  discern- 
able  just  across  the  Knox  Township  boundary  line,  on  Section 
32,  The  last  appearance  of  any  considerable  body  of  aborigines 
in  the  township  was  in  1843,  when  several  hundred  Sacs  and 
Foxes  camped  on  the  northwestern  quarter  of  Section  5,  while 
on  their  way  from  the  north  to  their  reservation  in  Indian  Ter- 
ritory. 

The  first  white  family  to  settle  within  the  present  limits 
of  Orange  was  that  of  Joseph  Wallace,  who  located  on  Section 
15,  in  1830,  and  found  a  rudely  constructed  cabin  suffice  for 
their  shelter.  After  the  death  of  his  wife,  on  the  old  farm,  Mr. 
Wallace  removed  to  Iowa. 

Asa  Haynes  (born  in  Dutchess  County,  New  York,  in 
1804,)  came  in  1836.  He  had  bought  the  three  hundred  acres 
on  Section  30,  on  which  he  erected  a  one-roomed  log  cabin,  in 
which  he  took  up  his  residence  with  his  wife,  formerly  Miss 
Mary  Gaddis,  to  whom  he  had  been  married  October  7,  1830. 
He  was  hardy,  daring  and  adventurous,  but  without  education 
other  than  such  as  he  had  obtained  during  two  months'  attend- 
ance at  an  Ohio  district  school  each  winter  during  six  or  seven 
years.  He  brought  with  him  his  two  children,  a  half  brother, 
Hiram,  and  a  nephew,  Isaac  Hill.  During  their  journey  from 
Ohio,  which  occupied  nineteen  days,  they  encountered  more  or 
less  rainfall  during  seventeen  days,  and  found  the  rivers  swol- 
len to  the  summit  of  their  banks,  even  the  horses'  harness 
never  drying.  Mr.  Haynes  was  energetic  and  enterprising,  and 
from  the  outset  proved  a  potent  factor  in  the  development  of 


141 

the  new  country.  He  started  the  first  brick  yard  and  in  1840, 
built  the  first  saw  mill,  which  was  operated  by  water  power 
obtained  from  Brush  Creek.  In  1841  he  erected  a  large  barn, 
and  the  following  year  replaced  his  primitive  cabin  with  a  brick 
house,  which  in  those  early  days  was  regarded  as  commodious. 
While  by  no  means  a  profound  scholar  himself,  he  took  a  deep 
interest  in  imparting  of  at  least  a  sound  primaiy  education  to 
children.  For  a  time  he  himself  taught  an  elementary  school 
in  his  little  cabin,  and  when  his  brick  home  was  completed,  one 
room  was  reserved  and  furnished  as  a  school-room.  Miss 
Frances  Moore  was  the  instructress,  becoming  later,  Mrs. 
Hiram  Haynes.  Asa  Haynes  became,  in  his  day,  the  largest 
land  holder  in  Orange  Township,  at  one  time  owning  nine  hun- 
dred and  eighty-nine  acres.  He  was  one  of  the  adventurers  of 
1849  and  Captain  of  the  "Jayhawkers"  company  of  gold  seekers 
formed  at  Galesburg.  He  led  this  little  band  of  sixty  across 
the  continent.  The  hards-hips  and  privations  which  the  men 
underwent  caused  many  to  drop  by  the  way,  but  Mr.  Haynes 
reached  California  safely,  where  he  remained  until  1851.  Later 
in  life  he  returned  to  California  and  made  that  State  his  resi- 
dence for  several  years.  He  returned  home  and  died  at  the 
house  of  a  daughter,  in  Missouri,  March  20,  1889. 

James  Ferguson  came  from  Kentucky,  with  his  family,  in 
the  same  year  with  Mr.  Wallace  settling  on  Section  11.  He  had 
several  children  but  only  two  are  at  present  residents  of 
Orange;  Andrew  J.,  a  farmer  living  on  Section  10,  and  Mrs. 
Sarah  Weir,  whose  home  is  on  Section  15.  The  elder  Ferguson 
attained  prominence  as  being  the  first  Justice  of  the  Peace  and 
the  first  Overseer  of  the  Poor  in  the  township.  He  was  also 
a  soldier  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  being  commissioned  as  Major. 
He  died  in  1841,  his  widow  surviving  him  for  twenty  years. 
Both  sleep  in  the  quiet  plot  of  ground  reserved  for  sepulture  on 
the  old  farm. 

Peter  Godfrey  is  among  the  best  known  settlers  of  1832, 
and  he  and  his  wife  are  among  the  oldest  and  most  honored 
couples  belonging  to  the  "Old  Settlers'  Association  of  Knox 
County."  John  Denney  and  John  and  Simon  McAllister  arrived 
two  years  later.  Isaiah  Hutson  and  wife  emigrated  from  the 
State  of  New  York  in  1837.  He  has  since  died  (1883),  but  his 
widow  and  daughter  still  find  their  home  on  the  homestead, 
which  was  theirs  sixty  years  ago.  Thomas  Gilbert  was  also 
an  early  settler,  his  farm  being  on  Section  8.  His  son,  Thomas, 
is  a  prominent  citizen  of  Knoxville,  and  two  of  his  daughters 
still  reside  in  that  city. 

Other  early  settlers  of  the  township  who  are  worthy  of 
especial  mention  are  as  follows:  Thomas  and  James  Sumner, 
who  came  from  Ohio  in  1837  and  settled  on  Section  23.  James 
lost  his  life  through  an  accident. 


142 

Isreal  Turner  emigrated  from  Chester  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1837.  He  entered  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  on 
Section  32,  remaining  there  until  he  died.  Anderson  Barnett 
also  came  in  the  same  year,  settling  on  Section  10.  To  him 
belonged  the  distinction  of  begetting  the  largest  family  of 
children  (eighteen)  ever  reared  in  the  township. 

The  early  houses  were,  of  course,  of  logs  and  of  these  Mr, 
Wallace  built  the  first,  on  Section  15.  Thomas  A.  Rude  erected 
the  first  brick  dwelling,  on  the  farm  of  the  late  William  Turner, 
in  the  same  section.  A  portion  of  the  latter  is  still  standing, 
but  the  residence  of  Mr.  Asa  Haynes  is  probably  the  oldest 
structure  in  the  county,  remaining  precisely  as  it  was  built. 

The  two  earliest  marriages  were  those  of  Alexander  Rob- 
ertson to  Narcissa  Ferguson,  and  of  Danie  IFuqua  to  Lydia 
Bomar.  This  was  a  double  wedding  and  the  ceremony  was 
solemnized  by  Rev.  Jacob  Gum  at  the  Ferguson  residence,  on 
Section  10.  The  first  white  child  born  (1833)  was  Cynthia, 
daughter  of  James  Ferguson. 

The  first  school  house  was  of  logs,  and  stood  on  Section 
14.  It  was  known  as  the  Wallace  school,  and  religious  ser- 
vices were  occasionally  held  within  its  rude,  unplastered  walls. 
The  first  teacher  was  Thomas  Ellison,  who  wielded  the  birch 
during  the  winter  of  1836.  He  died  at  Abingdon,  in  1897.  Mr. 
Ellison  was  followed  by  Anderson  Barnett,  who  taught  in  1837 
and  in  1838.  The  school  house  erected  in  what  is  now  District 
No.  8  was  of  brick,  Isreal  Turner  being  the  mason  and  the  car- 
pentry being  done  by  Charles  Corwin.  Miss  Amanda  Corwin, 
one  of  the  earliest  graduates  from  Knox  College,  was  the  first 
teacher  and  remained  six  years.  Another  early  school  house 
was  that  within  the  limits  of  the  present  District  No.  3,  where 
Miss  Mary  Gilbert  Chaffee  was  the  first  to  give  instruction  to 
boys  and  girls,  some  of  whom  have  long  since  passed  away, 
while  others  have  grown  old  and  silver-haired.  At  present 
Orange  township  has  eight  schools,  all  ungraded,  occupying 
well  constructed  frame  buildings.  The  houses  are  modern  and 
represent  an  outlay,  in  the  aggregate,  of  about  ten  thousand 
dollars.  In  addition  to  this  sum,  libraries  and  equipments  have 
cost  a  thousand  dollars.  The  total  enrollment  of  pupils  is  two 
hundred  and  seventeen. 

The  earliest  religious  service  held  in  the  township  was  con- 
ducted by  Rev.  Jacob  Gum,  a  Baptist  minister,  at  the  home  of 
James  Ferguson. 

The  first  denomination  to  organize  into  a  church  society 
was  the  Methodist  Episcopal.  This  body  erected  a  house  of 
worship  known  as  Orange  Chapel,  in  1855.  It  was  built  on  Sec- 
tion 22,  and  was  of  brick,  burned  in  the  yard  of  Anderson  Bar- 
nett and  laid  by  Thomas  Rambo.    The  building  was  dedicated 


143 

in  the  Spring  of  1856,  by  Rev.  Richard  Haney.  The  Gilson  Cir- 
cuit was  estabhshed  in  1857-8,  and  Orange  Chapel  was  included 
within  its  limits. 

Early  in  the  seventies  revival  services  were  held  at  the 
school  house  in  District  No.  4,  which  resulted  in  a  general 
awakening  of  religious  interest.  At  that  time  there  was  no 
organized  church  other  than  Orange  Chapel,  although  there 
was  in  the  township  a  moderate  sprinkling  of  Congregational- 
ists  and  Protestant  Methodists.  The  fervor  of  both  of  these 
sects  was  aroused.  Both  denominations  organized  societies, 
and  Haynes  Chapel  was  built  (1871-73)  by  the  Protestant 
Methodists.  The  Congregational  church  had  no  place  of  wor- 
ship and  soon  ceased  to  exist  as  a  local  organization.  A  general 
religious  decline  appeared  to  be  supervene  about  the  same  time, 
spreading  over  the  territory  btween  Knoxville  and  Hermon, 
on  the  north  and  south,  and  Gilson  and  Abingdon  on  the  east 
and  west.  In  fact,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  or  until  1890, 
Orange  Chapel  was  the  only  center  of  organic  Christian  effort. 
In  the  last  mentionel  year,  however,  a  branch  of  the  Young 
People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  was  formed  at  Haynes 
Chapel,  with  nine  active  members.  For  several  years  the 
young  people  conducted  weekly  services  there,  after  their  cus- 
tomary fashion,  and  in  1893,  Rev.  A.  W.  Depew,  of  Abingdon, 
began  preaching  with  marked  success ;  Haynes  Chapel  being 
considered  an  outlying  station.  By  this  time  the  Christian  En- 
deavors numbered  forty,  and  it  was  not  long  before  another 
Congregational  church  was  organized  with  twenty-two  mem- 
bers. Its  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Mr.  Slater,  who  preached  for 
the  congregation  from  May,  1894,  to  February,  1895. 

The  township  was  organized  and  its  name  chosen  at  a 
meeting  held  April  3,  1853.  The  name  seems  to  have  been 
selected  on  account  of  the  shape  of  the  central  prairie,  which,  in 
those  early  days,  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  in  the 
State.  Asa  Haynes  was  elected  Supervisor ;  A.  Barnett,  Clerk  ; 
A.  Pierce,  Assessor;  J.  G.  Rude,  Collector;  Peter  Godfrey  and 
David  Stephens,  Constables ;  Samuel  Mather  and  J.  Wallace, 
Overseers  of  the  Poor ;  J.  H.  McGrew,  Thomas  Gilbert  and  Mor- 
ris Chase,  Highway  Commissioners. 

The  chief  industries  are  agriculture  and  stock  raising, 
although  in  those  early  days,  brick  yards  were  started  by  Asa 
Haynes,  Thompson  Rude  and  Anderson  Barnett.  These  ven- 
tures proved  unprofitable,  however,  and  the  kilns  long  ago 
fell  into  disintegration  and  decay.  From  the  time  of  its  settle- 
ment Orange  ranked  high  among  the  best  cereal  producing 
sections  of  the  county,  although  a  lack  of  transportation  facili- 
ties prevented  the  marketing  of  the  grain  raised.  More  than 
half  was  used  in  the  fattening  of  stock.  Haynes,  Godfrey  and 
Sumner  Brothers  manifested  great  interest  in  improving  the 


144 

quality  of  live  stock  and  were  the  first  to  introduce  spotted 
China  hogs  and  Shorthorn  cattle. 

The  principle  market  of  the  pioneers  was  Peoria,  although 
Canton  and  Oquawka  received  a  fair  share  of  the  farm  pro- 
ducts. The  farmers  hauled  their  produce  by  teams,  receiving 
in  exchange  supplies  which  they  carried  home  to  their  expect- 
tant  families.  The  opening  of  the  first  railroad,  in  1854, 
altered  the  entire  situation,  shippers  now  finding  Chicago  at 
once  the  most  accessible  and  most  profitable  market. 

The  only  village  in  Orange  is  De  Long,  a  flourishing  little 
station,  on  the  line  of  the  Narrow  Gauge  Road,  now  C,  B.  &  Q. 
It  came  into  existence  in  1882,  and  owes  its  being — as  it  does 
its  name — to  S.  H.  Malory.  He  bought  the  site  from  Wayne 
Marks  when  the  preliminary  survey  of  the  line  was  made,  in 
anticipation  of  a  station  being  established  thereon,  and  called 
the  village  DeLong,  in  honor  of  the  explorer  of  that  name.  It 
can  boast  two  general  stores,  one  grain  elevator,  a  barber  shop, 
two  blacksmith  shops,  a  building  containing  a  hall  and  store 
room,  and  about  twenty-five  residences.  Its  population  is 
about  100  and  it  is  a  relatively  important  point  for  grain  and 
stock. 

The  township  furnished  its  full  quota  of  troops  in  both  the 
Mexican  and  Civil  Wars. 

Wm.  H.  Wiley  is  the  only  surviving  soldier  now  living, 
January,  1920,  in  the  township  from  which  he  enlisted. 

John  Lawrence,  Isaac  and  Samuel  Mather  were  among  the 
early  settlers.  The  Township  Hall  is  located  in  the  center  of 
the  township  and  is  a  building  originally  used  for  a  Farmer's 
Grange  Supply  Store,  Wm.  Forlow  being  the  manager  in  the 
years  from  '75  to  80.  The  White  School  House,  two  miles  north 
of  Belong,  was  one  of  the  first  schools  in  the  township,  the  first 
building  was  built  of  logs.  The  Civil  War  was  furnished  two 
Captains,  Wm.  Reynolds  and  Wright  Woolsey. 


Orange   township   furnished   its    quota 
American  and  also  in  the  recent  World  War. 


in   the    Spanish- 

(Facts  in  the  foregoing  sketch,  not  contained  in  the  Reeee 
history,  were  furnished  by  W.  A.  Wiley.) 


145 

PERSIFER  TOWNSHIP 
By  Joseph  M;  Miles 

The  name — Persifer — was  given  to  a  postoffice  which  was 
located  at  the  home  of  Charles  Bradford,  who  owned  the  north- 
west quarter  of  Section  27  in  this  township  and  whose  home 
was  located  at  the  southwest  corner  of  his  farm.  We  do  not 
know  who  chose  the  name,  but  it  was  named  in  honor  of  Gen- 
eral Persifer  Frazier  Smith  who  served  in  the  Mexican  war. 
Morgan  Reece  told  me  that  people  wrote  the  name  they  wanted 
and  sent  it  to  Knoxville. 

The  township  was  set  off  as  a  separate  town  sometime  in 
the  Fall  of  1849,  and  on  January  14,  1850,  the  voters  at  an  elec- 
tion chose  the  name  Persifer  for  the  township.  At  that  time 
Haw  Creek  and  Persifer  were  in  one  precinct  and  I  have  heard 
my  father  say  that  the  polling  place  was  at  the  residence  of 
Booker  Pickrel  which  was  located  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Section  3  in  Haw  Creek  township.  It  is  now  the  home  of  John 
Spear. 

The  township  is  located  near  the  top  of  the  east  slope  of 
the  ridge  which  lies  between  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi 
river.  As  a  consequence  the  general  slope  is  east  and  south. 
A  bend  in  Spoon  river  cuts  off  about  300  acres  on  the  east 
side  of  the  township,  and  this  with  Court  Creek  and  its  tribu- 
taries (Middle  Creek,  North  Creek  and  Sugar  Creek)  and  other 
small  streams,  furnish  excellent  drainage  for  the  township. 
These  streams  render  the  greater  part  of  the  land  very  rough 
there  being  only  about  3,000  acres  of  prairie  land  in  the  town- 
ship, making  it  more  of  a  grazing  than  a  farming  region. 

Originally  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  township  was  cov- 
ered with  timber  or  scattered  trees.  The  land  where  the  scat- 
tered trees  grew  was  called  barrens,  but  the  word  was  a  mis- 
nomer for  the  barrens  is  now  the  home  of  some  of  our  most 
progressive  and  well  to  do  citizens.  When  the  early  settlers 
came  nearly  all  of  the  timber  was  large  trees.  Then  as  the  set- 
tlers cut  the  trees,  new  trees  came  up  from  the  seed  and  now 
what  timber  we  have  is  nearly  all  what  is  called  second  growth. 
Nearly  all  of  this  second  growth  has  been  cut  and  killed  until 
we  have  very  little  timber  left  at  the  present  time.  The  prin- 
cipal timber  is  the  oak  of  which  the  white  oak  is  probably  the 
most  useful  variety.  Burr  oak  comes  next  in  usefulness.  Black 
oak  is  the  most  plentiful.  There  is  also  red  oak,  pin  oak  and 
jack  oak.  There  are  also  a  few  cottonwood,  a  few  elms,  a  few 
lynn,  a  few  box  alder,  a  few  ash,  hickory,  black  walnut  and 
hard  maple.  When  the  early  settlers  first  came  to  the  county 
there  was  a  white  pine  grove  on  Section  25.  Some  of  the  trees 
were  more  than  two  feet  through  at  the  stump.  This  grove  was 
soon  all  cut  and  used  up.    Most  of  it  was  sawed  at  the  Whitton 


146 

saw  mill  which  was  situated  at  the  Sumner  bridge  on  Spoon 
river  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Haw  Creek  township.  One 
house  was  built  from  this  white  pine  lumber — that  of  Captain 
Taylor  of  Trenton.  This  house  was  the  first  (or  second)  frame 
house  built  in  the  township.  Excepting  this  small  grove,  none 
of  the  native  timber  is  of  much  use  as  building  material  except 
as  frame  materiel.  Very  little  wood  is  now  used  for  fuel,  nearly 
everyone  uses  coal  for  heating  and  cooking  purposes  at  the 
present  time.  The  greatest  use  of  native  timber  is  posts,  coal 
props — of  which  a  great  many  are  shipped  from  the  township 
— and  bridge  plank. 

Mineral  Deposits 

There  are  plentiful  deposits  of  shale  in  the  township  that 
would  make  excellent  brick  but  as  yet  there  is  no  factory  for 
making  brick  and  as  concrete  is  beginning  to  be  so  extensively 
used  and  is  such  an  excellent  building  material,  there  prob- 
ably never  will  be  any  brick  made  from  it. 

Coal  is  also  found  in  all  parts  of  the  township,  but  it  is  not 
mined  to  any  extent.  Three  separate  veins  of  coal  crop  out  in 
the  township.  The  highest  vein  is  in  the  north  part  of  the 
town  and  is  4  feet  thick  and  is  of  excellent  quality.  The  other 
veins  are  but  two  feet  thick  and  are  very  hard  and  make  a 
great  many  cinders. 

The  only  stone  in  the  township  is  sandstone,  of  which 
there  is  a  small  supply.  It  is  soft  and  does  not  withstand  the 
climate  very  well.  As  there  is  practically  no  gravel  to  use  in 
making  concrete,  and  the  other  building  materials  are  so 
scarce,  it  is  readily  seen  that  materials  for  building  is  one  of 
our  worst  drawbacks. 

Persifer  is  well  supplied  with  fertile  soil.  About  one- 
fourth  of  the  land  is  what  is  know  nas  "Marshall  Silt  Loam" 
and  is  what  was  originally  prairie  and  barrens.  All  the  re- 
mainder of  the  land — except  the  bottom  land — is  called  "Miami 
Silt  Loam." 

In  the  early  days  the  settlers  used  springs  or  shallow  wells 
for  water,  but  year  by  year  the  wells  had  to  be  made  deeper 
and  deeper  until  at  the  present  time  drilled  wells  from  50  to 
300  feet  deep  furnish  the  purest  and  the  most  abundant  supply 
of  water.  In  the  early  days  people  secured  soft  water  by  set- 
ting buckets,  washtubs,  or  barrels  under  the  eaves  of  their 
houses  to  catch  the  rain  water  as  it  ran  from  the  eaves.  Now 
nearly  every  house  has  its  cistern  for  rain  water.  Cisterns 
usually  hold  from  60  to  80  barrels  of  water  and  people  are  sel- 
dom out  of  it. 

The  prairies  not  only  furnish  a  fertile  soil  for  farming 
but  in  the  early  days  furnished  spontaneously  an  abundant  sup- 


147 

ply  of  roughage  for  stock.  The  timber  also  furnished  acorns 
in  sufficient  quantities  to  fatten  not  only  deer  but  all  the 
hogs  the  early  settlers  raised.  Honey  was  also  plentiful.  Mr. 
R.  C.  Benson  told  of  one  bee  tree  that  he  cut  from  which  he 
filled  all  the  tubs  and  buckets  he  had  and  then  stood  in  honey 
several  inches  deep. 

Several  kinds  of  fruit  and  nuts  are  native  to  the  township. 
Wild  grapes,  plums,  black-berries,  straw-berries,  elder-berries, 
and  wild  crabs  were  found,  and  black  walnuts,  butternuts,  hick- 
ory nuts,  and  hazelnuts  were  also  plentiful.  A  party  of  young 
people  once  went  into  Court  Creek  bottoms  near  where  Apple- 
ton  now  stands  and  gathered  a  washtub  full  of  wild  straw- 
berries. 

Game  Abundant 

Game  was  plentiful  until  about  1850.  Parts  of  the  ele- 
phant and  the  mastodon  have  been  found  in  Persifer.  A  mas- 
todon's tooth  was  found  on  North  Creek  by  Albert  Wyman  and 
I  think  it  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Fred  R.  Jelliff,  editor  of 
the  Republican-Register.  The  writer  also  found  a  part  of  a 
mastodon  tooth  on  Section  35.  What  appears  to  be  an  entire 
tooth  of  an  elephant  was  found  by  Luther  Webb  in  Court  Creek 
on  Section  22  in  1917.  I  have  often  heard  my  father,  R.  W. 
Miles,  say  that  the  bones  and  horns  of  the  bison  were  plentiful 
upon  the  prairies  when  he  came  here  in  1836.  Although  these 
larger  animals  had  disappeared  from  the  country  before  the 
settlers  came,  there  remained  plenty  of  deer,  a  few  elk,  and 
numbers  of  wild  turkeys.  Prairie  chicken,  quail,  squirrels,  the 
raccoon  and  rabbits  were  abundant  in  those  days  but  most 
of  them  have  now  disappeared.  Prairie  chickens  were  so  num- 
erous in  the  early  days  that  Charles  Bradford  and  his  son  Wil- 
liam killed  24  by  firing  one  shot  each  at  a  flock  sitting  on  the 
first  grain  stacks  ever  stacked  in  Persifer.  R.  W.  Miles  on 
several  occasions  killed  as  many  as  7  prairie  chickens  at  one 
shot  and  the  writer  has  seen  as  many  as  a  thousand  in  one 
flock,  but  they  have  now  almost  disappeared  from  this  part  of 
the  country. 

Fur  bearing  animals  are  still  to  be  found  in  small  numbers. 
Probably  $500.00  worth  of  furs  are  procured  each  year. 

Indians  were  doubtless  quite  numerous  at  one  time  but 
very  few  were  ever  seen  after  the  white  settlers  came  and  they 
were  doubtless  wandering  bands.  Many  of  their  flint  arrow 
heads  and  stone  axes  have  been  found.  The  poles  of  their 
wigwams  which  were  standing  when  the  settlers  came  would 
indicate  that  there  was  an  Indian  village  where  the  town  of 
Dahinda  now  stands.  There  are  a  few  mounds  in  the  township, 
but  they  may  have  belonged  to  a  former  race.  The  Indians 
had  no  burial  place  in  the  township  so  far  as  I  have  ever  heard, 
unless  the  mounds  be  such  place.    What  is  known  as  the  Galena 


148 

trail — one  branch  of  it — passed  through  the  township.  It  ran 
almost  straight  north  from  the  south  side  of  the  township  to 
Court  Creek,  crossing  that  stream  where  the  present  Appleton 
bridge  stands.  From  there  it  followed  a  northwesterly  direc- 
tion. A  branch  trail  from  the  mouth  of  Court  Creek  joined  it 
near  the  northwest  corner  of  the  township.  The  trails  were 
much  used  by  the  early  settlers  as  they  were  veiy  good  roads, 
the  Indians  not  having  to  follow  the  section  lines  in  the  selec- 
tion of  their  highways.  Mr.  W.  G.  Sargeant  says  that  there 
were  a  number  of  poles  of  wigwams  on  the  hills  on  the  east  side 
of  Sugar  Creek  and  south  of  what  is  known  as  Round  Bottom. 

One  of  the  Indians  who  sometimes  visited  this  section  dur- 
ing the  days  of  the  early  settlement  was  the  chief,  Shabona. 
He  once  offered  to  show  William  Morris  a  silver  mine  in  the 
northeast  part  of  the  township,  but  Mr.  Morris,  fearing  treach- 
ery, would  not  go  with  him.  Afterwards  when  returning  from 
a  journey  of  some  sort  he  came  acoss  a  spot  that  corresponded 
with  that  decribed  to  him  by  Shabona.  But  when  he  went  to 
look  for  it  again  he  could  never  find  the  same  place.  It  may 
seem  strange  that  Mr.  Morris  could  not  find  the  place  again, 
but  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that  once  when  returning  from 
a  hunting  trip  crossing  Court  Creek  bottoms  which  had  been 
freshly  burned  over  he  found  quite  a  large  piece  of  land  strewn 
thickly  with  human  bones,  which  were  so  badly  burned  that 
they  fell  in  pieces  when  he  tried  to  pick  them  up  and  although 
he  tried  to  find  the  place  afterwards  he  could  not  do  so. 

Early  Settlers 

William  Morris,  mentioned  above,  was  probably  the  first 
white  settler.  He  bought  the  N.  W.  1-4  Section  26  on  March 
10,  1832.  During  the  winter  of  1832-3  he  lodged  in  a  hollow 
sycamore  tree  which  stood  near  the  south  bank  of  Spoon  River 
just  below  the  mouth  of  Court  Creek.  Mr.  Morris  came  from 
Wilksville,  Gallia  Co.,  Ohio.  He  married  Miss  Ruth  Vaughn, 
who  came  frorn  Kentucky.  Mr.  Morris  probably  built  his  cabin 
in  1833,  but  it  is  said  to  have  burned  down  soon  after  it  was 
built. 

Beverly  Young  and  Jesse  and  Willis  Reynolds  came  to  the 
township  in  1833.  They  came  from  Munfordsville,  Kentucky. 
Beverly  Young  settled  on  the  east  1-2  of  the  northeast  of  Sec- 
tion 26. 

Jesse  Reynolds  settled  on  the  west  1-2  of  the  same  quarter. 
Willis  Reynolds  settled  on  the  west  1-2  of  the  southwest  1-4 
of  Section  25.  Some  time  in  the  fall  of  1834  Charles  Bradford 
came  from  Licking  county,  Ohio,  and  bought  the  Beverly 
Young  place  and  moved  into  the  house  which  Mr.  Young  had 
built  there.  The  next  year,  1835,  Mr.  Bradford  bought  the 
north  west  1-4  of  Section  27  and  moved  into  a  house  that  stood 


149 

just  across  the  road  west  on  Section  28.  In  1836,  Rev.  S.  S. 
Miles  came  to  the  township  from  Ohio  and  bought  a  part  of  the 
northwest  1-4  of  Section  34,  but  did  not  move  onto  the  place 
until  the  spring  of  1839,  although  he  lived  nearby  while  he  was 
building  his  house  which,  as  he  was  in  poor  health  and  his  old- 
est son  was  but  14  years  old,  it  took  him  some  time  to  do. 

In  1837  many  families  came  to  the  township,  among  them 
being  those  of  Edmond  Russell,  Isaac  Sherman,  G.  W.  Manley, 
T.  D.  Butt,  Caleb  Reece,  John  Caldwell  and  James  Maxey.  Af- 
ter this  new  arrivals  became  quite  frequent  and  neighbors  were 
not  so  far  apart. 

First  Marriages 

The  first  marriage  in  which  the  contracting  parties  were 
residents  of  the  township,  was  that  of  Charles  Bradford  and 
Parmelia  Ann  Richardson.  Mr.  Bradford  was  a  native  of  New 
Hampshire  but  after  his  first  marriage  lived  in  the  state  of 
Maine  a  short  time.  He  then  moved  to  Licking  county,  Ohio, 
and  later,  in  1834,  came  to  Illinois.  Mr.  Richardson  came  from 
Kentucky.  They  were  married  in  Peoria  some  time  in  the 
spring  of  1836. 

The  first  wedding  which  occurred  in  the  township  was 
that  of  Harvey  Stetson  Bradford,  son  of  Charles  Bradford  and 
Hester  Whitton.  They  were  married  October  24,  1836,  at  the 
home  of  the  groom's  father  who  lived  on  the  northwest  1-4  sec- 
tion 27.  The  Rev.  Bartlett,  a  Baptist  minister  from  Knoxville, 
performed  the  ceremony. 

It  has  often  been  stated  that  R.  C.  Benson  and  Sarah 
Bradford  were  the  first  couple  married  in  the  township,  but 
they  were  not  married  until  JanuaiT  5,  1837.  They  were  mar- 
ried at  the  home  of  the  bride's  father,  Chas.  Bradford.  The 
ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Rev.  S.  S.  Miles. 

The  first  child  bom  in  the  township  is  said  to  have  been 
a  daughter  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jesse  Reynolds,  but  there  was  a 
child  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willis  Reynolds  in  January,  1835. 

First  Death 

The  first  death  was  that  of  Mrs.  Charles  Bradford,  which 
occurred  on  January  5,  1835.  Mrs.  Bradford  was  in  poor 
health  when  she  came  to  the  township,  in  1834,  and  lived  only 
a  few  months.  She  was  buried  on  their  own  farm  almost 
at  the  center  of  of  the  N.  E.  1-4  of  Section  26. 

The  first  public  cemetery  was  in  Section  9  on  what  is 
now  known  as  the  Charles  Myers  farm.  The  first  burial 
therein  was  a  son  of  John  Henderson,  who  then  owned  the 
farm. 

Mr.  David  Russell,  who  came  to  the  township  with  his 
father  in  1837,  says  that  there  was  a  cemetery  at  Trenton  at 


150 

that  time.     This  cemetery  is  located  just  east  of  where  the 
town  of  Trenton  stood  and  is  known  as  the  Trenton  cemetery. 

Modes  of  Travel 

Traveling  in  those  days  was  not  very  rapid.  In  the  winter 
of  1835-6  Rev.  S.  S.  Miles,  who  lived  in  Newark,  Ohio,  was  in 
very  poor  health.  The  doctors  told  him  that  he  would  live  only 
until  spring  came,  but  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  get  onto  a 
horse  he  began  riding  out  every  day  and  as  soon  as  he  could 
ride  10  miles  a  day  he  started  for  Illinois.  He  came  to  the 
township  in  June  of  that  year  and  bought  his  farm  and  rode 
back  to  Ohio  on  horseback.  When  there  he  loaded  his  family 
into  a  wagon  and  brought  them  to  Illinois  the  same  fall. 

They  traveled  quite  slowly,  leading  a  cow  behind  the 
wagon  and  camping  out  nights.  The  milk  from  the  cow  was 
hung  up  in  the  wagon  in  a  tin  bucket  every  morning  and  at 
night  fresh  butter  was  taken  from  the  bucket.  Many  of  the 
roads  were  cordoroy,  especially  in  Indiana,  and  most  of  the 
streams  had  to  be  forded  or  ferried.  Mr.  Miles  lived  40  years 
after  coming  to  Illinois.    His  death  was  October  6,  1876. 

Charles  Bradford  brought  his  family  to  Illinois  in  the 
same  way.  He  brought  one  two-horse  wagon  and  one  six- 
horse  wagon.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  P.  C.  Benson,  told  me  that 
the  only  incident  that  she  could  think  of  in  the  journey  from 
Ohio  was  that  one  of  the  wagons  upset  after  they  had  passed 
all  the  hills  and  streams  and  were  only  about  a  mile  from  the 
place  where  they  located.  Nearly  all  of  the  settlers  came  in 
wagons,  but  it  is  quite  likely  that  a  few  of  them  came  on  foot. 

The  first  mail  was  carried  on  horseback,  the  carrier  cross- 
ing Spoon  River  at  a  place  called  Jack's  ford.  This  ford  was  lo- 
cated about  80  rods  below  the  mouth  of  Court  Creek  and  about 
the  same  distance  above  the  township  line. 

The  first  public  conveyance  and  one  which  also  carried  the 
mail  was  the  stage-coach.  Just  when  the  stage  began  running 
through  Persifer  we  do  not  know,  but  it  seems  to  have  been 
running  in  1837,  according  to  Mr.  David  Russell,  who  came  to 
the  township  that  year  and  was  15  years  of  age.  The  first 
route  of  the  stage  was  from  Trenton  west  nearly  to  the  R.  C. 
Benson  farm,  then  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to  the  Miles 
farm,  thence  nearly  on  a  straight  line  to  Knoxville,  passing  the 
G.  W.  Manley  farm,  (now  owned  by  Geo.  W.  Haner),  where 
was  a  fine  spring  where  people  stopped  to  water.  This  route 
missed  all  the  hills  between  Spoon  River  and  Knoxville.  The 
state  road  through  Trenton  and  Knoxville  was  laid  out  in  1838. 
T.  D.  Butt,  Caleb  Reece  and  John  Coleman  were  the  commis- 
sioners. 

In  the  early  40's  the  people  desired  a  postoffice  closer 
than  Knoxville  and  one  was  established  at  the  home  of  Charles 


151 

Bradford,  Mr.  Bradford  being  appointed  postmaster.  We  do 
not  know  the  date  when  the  office  started  but  some  place  the 
date  as  early  as  1842.  Several  years  aftervvards  the  office  was 
moved  to  Trenton  and  the  name  was  charged  to  Trenton. 

Schools 

The  first  school  of  which  we  know  was  taught  by  Mary 
Ann  Long  in  1839.  The  school  was  held  in  a  cabin  which  stood 
in  the  hollow  just  north  of  the  present  Maple  Grove  School 
house,  District  No.  91.  This  school  was  not  a  public  school, 
but  was  supported  by  subscription.  Mr.  C.  N.  Butt,  now  living 
in  Knoxville,  was  a  pupil  of  that  school. 

The  first  school  house  was  built  in  1841  on  the  line  be- 
tween the  Francis  Wilson  and  the  John  Caldwell  farms.  It 
stood  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  1-4  mile  west  of  the  center 
of  Section  30.  It  was  a  log  structure  with  the  door  in  the 
south  and  one  row  of  panes  where  a  log  had  been  sawed  out  in 
the  east  and  west  of  the  house  for  windows.  We  believe  that 
John  Mcintosh  was  the  first  teacher  and  that  Curtis  Edgerton 
was  the  second,  but  some  have  said  that  Mr.  Edgerton  was  the 
first.  So  far  as  we  know  the  pupils  who  attended  the  first 
public  school  were  James  and  George  McPherrin,  Neptin,  Lu- 
cina  and  Mary  Russell,  Charles  N.  Butt,  Jacob  Brunk,  and  John 
C.  Hearn. 

The  first  school  trustees  of  Persifer  were  T.  D.  Butt  and 
Samuel  McCormack.  The  first  meeting  was  on  January  10, 
1846,  and  the  first  official  act  was  the  appointment  of  Francis 
Wilson  to  the  office  of  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

Another  log  school  house  was  built  in  an  early  day  near 
the  town  of  Trenton,  but  it  was  probably  not  built  until  after 
the  one  on  the  Wilson  farm.  This  building  stood  between  80 
and  90  rods  almost  due  east  of  the  present  Trenton  school 
building. 

There  are  now  nine  frame  school  buildings  in  the  town- 
ship and  the  schools  are  all  graded.  According  to  the  census  of 
June  1st,  1918,  there  are  207  pupils  of  school  age  in  the  town- 
ship. The  value  of  the  school  property  in  the  township  is 
$9,830.00  and  the  amount  of  tax  levy  for  last  year  was 
$6,325.00. 

Business 

Persifer  boasts  the  first  mill  in  Knox  county.  It  was  built 
in  1834,  by  Robert  Hendrix.  It  stood  on  the  south  bank  of 
Court  Creek  at  the  mouth  of  Middle  Creek — just  above  where 
the  Knoxville  and  Victoria  road  crosses  Court  Creek  on  Section 
19.  At  first  only  corn  was  ground  at  this  mill,  but  later  wheat 
was  also  ground  by  Samuel  McCormack.  This  mill  was  after- 
wards converted  into  a  saw  mill  and  was  owned  and  operated 
by  Andrew  Fletcher,  Hubbard  Huggins,  Daniel  Anderson  and 


152 

David  Russell.     Mr.  Russell  was  operating  the  mill  when  the 
dam  was  washed  away  in  1853. 

The  next  place  of  importance  in  the  township  was  the  town 
of  Trenton.  It  was  the  first  town  and  was  laid  out  in  1839  by 
Hyram  Bowman  on  Section  25.  It  contained  a  tavern  and  hos- 
telry, a  postoffice,  2  stores,  a  blacksmith  shop,  a  pottery  and  a 
brick  yard.  Charles  Bradford  kept  the  postoffice,  which  was 
moved  from  his  farm  to  Trenton.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Good- 
man kept  the  first  store.  It  was  a  regular  stopping  place  for 
the  stage  as  long  as  that  mode  of  conveyance  was  in  use,  which 
was  up  to  1853.  The  name  of  one  of  the  stage  drivers  was 
Dave  Brownlee  and  the  name  of  another  was  Oliver  Pike.  Thece 
men  were  of  the  rough  and  ready  sort  or  they  would  not  have 
been  in  such  a  business  at  that  time.  At  one  time  one  of  these 
men  brought  a  young  lady  to  Galesburg  who  was  to  teach  in 
Knox  College.  It  was  a  very  icy  time  and  when  the  driver 
opened  the  stage  door  and  reached  up  to  help  the  young  lady 
out  his  feet  went  from  under  him  and  he  went  flat  on  the 
ground.  The  young  lady,  (I  forget  her  name),  was  so  far  out 
of  the  coach  that  she  could  not  keep  her  balance,  so  she  very 
neatly  jumped  over  the  fallen  driver  and  alighted  on  the  curb 
without  any  assistance.  But  the  driver  was  not  daunted  by  the 
mishap  to  himself.  He  turned  to  a  half  dozen  young  men  who 
were  standing  by  and  beginning  to  laugh  at  him  and  said: 
"Boys,  there's  terrible  times  over  in  Knoxville.  The  niggers 
are  dying  off  at  the  rate  of  six  a  minute."  (There  was  but  one 
negro  in  Knox  county  at  the  time).  Both  these  men  went  to 
California  in  the  gold  digging  days. 

An  Early  Mill 

Elliott's  Mill,  so-called  in  hpnor  of  Captain  Hiram  Elliott, 
who  was  captain  of  Company  H,  102  Illinois  Infantry,  and  who 
owned  and  operated  the  mill  for  several  years,  was  built  in  1840 
at  the  mouth  of  Court  Creek  on  Spoon  River.  It  stood  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  river  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek  and  has 
quite  a  history.  Some  time  prior  to  1840,  probably  in  1839, 
Thomas  Gilbert  who  lived  south  of  Knoxville  and  who  was  one 
of  the  men  who  sought  out  the  location  for  Knox  College  and  a 
man  named  Captain  Jack  made  a  tour  of  inspection  along  Spoon 
River  and  decided  that  the  spot  we  have  described  was  the  best 
place  for  a  mill  site.  As  these  men  did  not  wish  to  go  partners 
in  the  mill  and  neither  wanted  to  pay  the  other  for  what  the 
law  gave  free  to  the  man  who  first  began  to  build,  both  men 
went  home  and  watched  for  an  opportunity  to  get  the  first 
start.  Finally  Captain  Jack  started  for  Oquawka  for  two  loads 
of  castings  for  a  mill.  After  his  departure  Mr.  Gilbert  heard 
of  it  in  some  way  and  not  to  be  out-done  he  engaged  all  the 
men  that  he  could  get  to  go  with  him  from  Knoxville  and  they 
went  out  to  the  river  and  began  cutting  walnut  logs  in  the  creek 


153 

bottoms  just  west  of  the  mill  site.  They  worked  all  night,  cut- 
ting, hewing  and  dragging  out  the  logs  and  when  Captain  Jack 
got  back  with  his  castings  he  found  that  he  was  beaten.  It  is 
said  that  he  hauled  the  castings  down  the  river  a  short  dis- 
tance, threw  them  out  of  his  wagons  and  never  picked  them  up. 
Although  Mr.  Gilbert  secured  the  site  for  the  mill,  for  some 
reason  he  did  not  build. the  mill.  He  may  have  sold  the  site  to 
a  man  named  McKee,  for  a  man  named  named  McKee  built  the 
mill.  Mr.  McKee  doubtless  began  building  the  mill  in  1839  for 
the  frame  was  up  early  in  the  spring  of  1840,  and  it  was  fin- 
ished that  year.  It  was  a  large  substantial  structure  and  re- 
mained standing  41  years.  In  the  beginning  it  was  a  saw  mill 
but  it  was  later  converted  into  a  flour  mill  and  was  for  many 
years  one  of  the  most  important  milling  centers  in  the  county. 
As  the  mill  grew  in  importance  Trenton  declined  and  one  of  the 
stores  was  moved  from  Trenton  to  the  mill.  For  several  years 
there  were  two  stores  and  a  blacksmith  shop  and  at  one  time 
there  were  two  saloons  in  operation.  One  of  them  was  even 
named  the  Blue  Goose.  The  mill  was  owned  first  by  McKee 
then  by  the  Lewis  boys,  (Laderic,  Loid,  Loren  and  Luther 
Lewis),  then  by  a  Mr.  Stinocker,  then  by  Captain  Elliott,  then 
by  Proctor  Myers,  then  by  Henry  Corbin  and  last  by  John 
Degrummond.  After  about  1870  the  water  began  to  fail  so 
badly  in  the  streams  that  the  mill  finally  had  to  quit  business 
about  1875.  The  building  finally  became  unsafe  and  was  torn 
down  by  Mr.  Degrummond  in  the  spring  of  1881. 

The  Golden  Circle 

During  the  Civil  War  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle 
were  quite  numerous  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mill  and  for  a  long 
time  they  met  every  Saturday  night  in  an  old  log  house  that 
stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  just  on  the  high  bank  of  the 
creek.  The  house  was  one  story  with  a  loft  and  a  stone  chim- 
ney on  the  outside.  Mr.  Henry  Butt,  who  told  me  of  the  cir- 
cumstances, was  a  good  sized  boy  at  the  time  and  was  staying 
with  the  miller.  He  says  that  on  Saturday  evenings  when  it 
was  getting  dark  men  would  begin  to  ride  in  on  horseback  from 
all  directions  and  tie  their  horses  in  the  low  ground  back  of  the 
house  where  they  would  be  entirely  out  of  sight  from  the  road. 
There  were  usually  about  25  of  them  and  they  would  gather  in 
the  loft  of  the  old  house  and  stay  there  for  quite  a  long  time 
before  they  dispersed.  Mr.  Butt  was  very  anxious  to  know 
what  they  were  meeting  for  and  so  one  night  he  climbed  up  the 
chimney  until  his  head  was  above  the  floor  of  the  loft  and  list- 
ened, but  although  he  could  hear  them  talking  he  could  not 
distinguish  anything  that  they  said.  The  Knights  kept  up 
their  meetings  until  the  draft  was  called  when  some  of  them 
in  order  to  escape  the  draft  left  the  country  and  the  circle  was 
broken  up.     The  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle  was  a  secret 


154 

organization,  originated  in  the  south  for  the  extension  and  de- 
fense of  slavery.  It  contained  many  men  in  all  the  southern 
states  and  a  great  many  northern  men.  In  Persifer  they  went 
so  far  as  to  plot  the  murder  of  some  of  the  prominent  citizens. 
The  writer's  father  was  the  first  one  whom  they  planned  to 
execute,  but  a  friend  of  our  family  who  was  a  member  of  the 
Circle,  came  to  our  people  and  told  them,  what  was  planned.  As 
I  think  of  it  now  I  do  not  know  the  man's  name,  I  only  know 
that  he  was  an  Irishman. 

The  third  and  last  mill  to  be  built  in  the  township  was 
built  by  Charles  Haptonstall  about  1848.  It  was  built  on  Court 
Creek,  about  80  rods  west  of  the  road  leading  south  from  the 
town  of  Appleton.  In  it  corn  and  buckwheat  were  ground  at 
first,  but  it  was  later  converted  into  a  saw  mill  and  not  being 
very  substantial  was  never  a  place  of  much  business. 

All  of  the  mills  and  the  town  of  Trenton  have  long  since 
disappeared  as  places  of  public  business  and  there  were  no 
other  places  of  that  character  except  a  few  blacksmith  shops 
until  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  R.  R.  was  built  in  1888.  There  have  been 
several  blacksmith  shops  in  the  south  half  of  the  township 
aside  from  the  ones  already  mentioned.  The  following  are  all 
that  the  writer  remembers:  Francis  Wilson  on  his  farm  on 
Section  30,  Thomas  Gordon  on  the  Wm.  Morris  farm  on  Section 
26,  Stephen  Clark  on  what  is  now  known  as  the  Wm.  Breece 
farm  on  Section  26,  and,  at  a  later  date,  Jas.  Kelso,  on  the  hill 
south  of  Appleton. 

Dahinda  was  laid  out  in  the  summer  of  1888  by  the  Santa  Fe 
Town  and  Land  Co.  It  stands  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Spoon 
River  on  the  N.  W.  of  Section  24  and  is  a  station  on  the  Santa 
Fe  R.  R.  There  is  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church  and  a  Latter 
Day  Saints  church,  generally  known  as  an  offspring  of  the 
Mormon  church.  Guy  H.  Peters  has  a  store  and  is  postmaster. 
Charles  Woolsey  and  A.  E.  Sargeant  each  have  stores  and 
James  Kelso  has  a  blacksmith  shop.  A.  E.  Sargeant  also  runs 
the  elevator  and  E.  W.  Farquer  has  a  barber  shop.  The  A.  T. 
&  S.  F.  R.  R.  which  traverses  the  township  from  west  to  east 
with  a  fine  double  track  has  a  fine  bridge  across  Spoon  River 
at  this  place. 

Appleton  was  laid  out  by  the  Hon.  J.  H.  Lewis  in  the  spring 
of  1888,  on  the  S.  E.  1-4  of  Section  16.  It  is  situated  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Santa  Fe  R.  R.  and  is  a  station  on  that  road. 
Mr.  Wm.  A.  lies  has  a  store  and  is  postmaster.  Alfred  E. 
Saline  has  a  store  and  a  grain  elevator.  There  is  also  a  black- 
smith shop  and  a  Church  of  the  United  Bhrethren  in  Christ. 
Quite  a  large  amount  of  grain  and  stock  is  shipped  from  Apple- 
ton  each  year. 

The  Prairie  State  Oil  Co.  has  pipe  lines  and  a  pumping 
station  in  the  township.     The  pipe  lines  follow  the  Santa  Fe 


155 

tracks  and  the  pumping  station  is  by  the  side  of  that  road  on 
Section  23.    They  also  have  a  switch  from  the  Santa  Fe  tracks. 

Another  pipe  line  runs  through  the  south  part  of  the 
township  but  has  no  pumping  station  here. 

Churches 

The  first  sermon  preached  in  the  township  so  far  as  we 
have  any  record,  was  at  the  home  of  Charles  Bradford  in  June, 
1836.  The  preacher  was  the  Rev.  S.  S.  Miles.  He  also  organ- 
ized the  first  Sunday  school  at  the  same  place  in  1838.  The 
first  lesson  was  from  the  Book  of  Daniel.  The  first  church 
was  built  in  1863  on  the  Robert  Young  farm  at  the  center  of 
Section  30.  It  cost  $1,800.00.  There  are  now  seven  church 
buildings  in  the  township  but  two  of  them  are  not  used.  The 
church  on  the  Young  farm  is  called  Bethel  and  is  Methodist. 
Maxey  Chapel  stands  at  the  center  of  Section  5  and  is  Metho- 
dist .  One  of  the  churches  at  Dahinda  is  Methodist  and  the 
other  is  an  offshoot  of  the  Mormon  church,  called  the  Latter 
Day  Saints.  The  church  at  Appleton  is  the  old  United  Breth- 
ren denomination.  The  church  which  stands  at  the  center  of 
Section  8  and  the  one  standing  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Sec- 
tion 27  belong  to  the  revised  division  of  the  United  Brethren 
church.  The  two  latter  are  not  in  use  aet  the  present  time. 
The  U.  B.  Church  at  Appleton  built  a  parsonage  in  1917.  It  is 
the  first  parsonage  in  the  township. 

Religious  Life 

A  great  deal  might  be  said  about  the  religion  of  Persifer 
people.  In  the  first  days  of  the  settlement  there  were  no 
churches  nor  school  houses  and  the  meetings  had  to  be  held  for 
the  most  part  in  the  homes  of  the  settlers  and  later  when  a 
large  bam  was  built  it  would  sometimes  be  used  for  holding 
meetings.  The  barn  on  the  Robert  Young  farm  was  once  used 
for  holding  a  revival  meeting,  Mr.  Young  being  himself  a 
great  church  man.  A  goodly  number  were  converted  at  this 
meeting  and  some  of  them  became  very  enthusiastic.  One  man 
coming  out  of  the  barn  after  he  had  joined  the  church  saw  his 
son  talking  with  some  other  young  men  out  in  the  yard  and 

coming  up  to  him  said:  "Son,  you  d d  fool  you,  why  don't 

you  go  in  and  join  the  meeting?  Mother's  joined  and  I've 
joined  and  the  girls  have  joined  and  we've  all  joined."  Possibly 
the  enthusiasm  would  to  a  certain  extent  excuse  the  profanity. 

After  the  school  houses  were  built  they  were  used  almost 
exclusively  for  holding  religious  services  until  the  churches 
were  built.  They  were  the  only  places  of  public  worship  for 
years.  Many  people  liked  the  school  house  the  best  for  church 
services  as  it  was  not  the  property  of  any  denomination  and 
people  felt  more  at  home  there. 


156 

At  one  time  in  the  early  days  a  Spiritualist  came  into  the 
Young  neighborhood  and  gave  a  few  talks  and  the  older  people 
began  to  be  worried  on  account  of  the  young  people,  and  tried 
to  get  the  man  to  leave  the  community.  Instead  of  leaving, 
however,  he  proposed  that  they  get  some  one  to  debate  the 
subject  with  him  and  leave  the  question  to  be  settled  in  that 
way  and  Mr.  Robert  Young  took  him  at  his  word  and  tried  to 
find  some  preacher  who  would  debate  with  him.  But  Mr. 
Young  could  not  find  a  preacher  who  w^ould  undertake  the  task 
and  finally  a  man  named  Ruff  Branscom  told  him  to  get  R.  W. 
Miles.  Mr.  Miles  said  he  would  debate  with  him  and  got  Mr, 
Branscom  to  pretend  that  he  wanted  to  join  the  spiritualists 
and  get  some  of  their  books  for  Mr.  Miles  to  study.  The  de- 
bate was  finally  called  and  lasted  only  an  hour  and  a  half  when 
the  spiritualist  was  ready  to  quit.  Mr.  Young  now  said  that  as 
Mr.  Miles  had  spent  some  time  in  studying  up  for  the  debate 
and  had  given  them  such  good  service  it  was  no  more  than 
right  that  they  should  take  up  a  collection  for  him.  He  then 
proceeded  to  take  up  the  collection  wearing  a  very  broad  smile 
at  the  same  time.  One  of  the  neighbors  seeing  this  smile  spoke 
up  and  said  that  if  it  was  a  victory,  it  was  not  a  Methodist 
victory,  at  which  remark  Mr.  Young's  smile  only  grew  the 
broader. 

Many  meetings  of  great  interest  have  been  held  in  the 
township  and  many  people  have  been  converted  in  them  and 
although  there  have  been  many  backsliders  there  have  also 
been  those  who  were  faithful. 

Agricultural  Evolution 

The  first  land  broken  was  six  acres  on  what  is  known  as 
the  Stevens  farm  in  the  S.  E.  of  the  N.  E.  of  Section  28.  Six 
acres  were  also  broken  on  the  S.  E.  of  Section  34  at  about  the 
same  time. 

The  first  crop  was  oats  and  wheat  and  the  farmer  was 
Wm.  Morris. 

The  prairie  sod  was  very  tough  and  hard  to  plow.  The 
plows  were  made  almost  wholly  of  wood,  there  being  an  iron 
shire  and  I  suppose  an  iron  clevis.  Usually  the  plows  were 
attached  to  wagon  wheels  as  a  man  could  not  manage  one  of 
them  and  they  were  drawn  by  oxen,  generally  two  or  three 
yoke  to  a  plow.  The  sod  was  often  left  to  rot  over  winter.  One 
man  planted  corn  on  freshly  broken  sod  by  using  an  ax  to  make 
the  holes  and  cover  the  corn. 

The  first  crop  did  not  need  tending  but  after  that  the 
weeds  were  too  bad  to  let  go.  One  man  in  speaking  of  this 
fact  said  that  he  trusted  to  providence  to  raise  a  crop  one  year 
and  got  a  good  crop,  so  he  tried  it  again  and  got  nothing  and 
he  was  not  going  to  trust  to  providence  again. 


157 

After  the  sod  was  rotted  the  soil  could  be  furrowed  out 
with  a  shovel  plow,  and  then  a  man  by  walking  across  the 
fun'ows  could  drop  the  corn  so  that  it  would  be  in  rows  both 
ways.  Sometimes  they  would  cover  it  with  a  hoe,  sometimes 
with  a  plow  and  sometimes  with  a  harrow. 

The  first  corn  planter  was  made  about  1851,  but  they  were 
not  in  general  use  until  in  the  sixties.  The  first  check-rower 
was  a  rope  but  it  was  soon  replaced  by  the  wire  as  the  rope 
would  shrink  and  stretch  too  much.  The  check-row  planter 
came  into  use  about  1875. 

The  sowing,  harvesting  and  threshing  of  the  small  grains 
has  improved  as  much  as  the  planting  of  corn.  In  the  early 
days  small  grain  was  all  sown  by  hand.  A  man  would  take 
from  1-2  to  1  1-2  bushels  of  grain  in  a  sack  and  carry  it  across 
the  field,  reaching  his  hand  into  the  sack  every  second  step, 
taking  thence  a  certain  amount  of  seed  and  scattering  it  in 
front  and  to  one  side  of  him.  Finally  the  hoe  drill  was  in- 
vented, which  was  used  mostly  for  seeding  fall  grains.  Later 
the  broadcast  seeder  came  into  use,  being  used  mostly  for  seed- 
ing spring  grains.  Finally  in  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century 
the  endgate  seeder  and  the  disk  drill  came  into  use. 

The  cradle  was  used  for  cutting  the  grain  for  many  years 
after  this  country  was  settled.  A  man  could  cut  and  bind  and 
shock  about  an  acre  a  day  in  those  days.  After  the  cradle  came 
the  dropper,  the  hand  rake  reaper,  the  self  rake  reaper,  the 
Marsh  Harvester,  the  wire  binder  and  finally  the  twine  binder, 
which  has  been  without  a  competitor  for  almost  forty  years. 

For  threshing  their  grain  the  earliest  settlers  were  obliged 
to  use  the  flail.  Then  they  began  using  horses.  A  small  piece 
of  ground  would  be  smoothed  off  nicely  and  some  grain  would 
be  unbound  and  scattered  on  this  smooth  spot.  Then  a  man,  or 
sometimes  two  men,  would  mount  a  horse  and  leading  2  or  3 
other  horses  he  would  go  around  and  around  on  the  grain  until 
the  grain  was  all  trampled  out  of  the  heads,  when  they  would 
dismount  and  cleaning  away  the  straw  with  forks  would  gather 
up  the  grain  and  put  it  in  sacks  ready  for  cleaning. 

The  first  threshing  machine  was  called  a  ground-beater. 
It  was  only  a  cylinder.  The  grain  and  straw  and  chaff  all  came 
through  onto  the  ground  together  and  had  to  be  separated  by 
pitch  fork  and  fanning  mill.  It  was  run  by  horse  power,  the 
power  being  made  for  six  horses.  Tumbling  rods  were  used. 
The  first  threshing  was  done  on  what  was  then  the  Parkins 
place,  on  the  hill  near  the  center  of  the  place.  The  place  is  the 
south  1-2  of  the  S.  E.  of  Section  32.  The  man  who  owned  and 
ran  the  machine  was  named  Pittner  and  he  lived  near  Canton, 
Fulton  county.    Milton  Lotts  helped  thresh. 

Great  improvements  have  been  made  in  the  kind  of  power 


158 

used  and  in  the  handling  of  the  straw  so  that  the  thresher  is 
now  almost  as  well  perfected  as  the  binder. 

At  the  present  time  the  gas  tractor  is  very  much  talked 
of  and  is  used  to  a  limited  extent,  but  its  place  as  a  mode  of 
power  is  not  yet  established. 

Plows  have  been  greatly  improved  upon  from  the  wooden 
plow  of  the  pioneers  to  the  two-bottom  gang  drawn  by  four 
horses. 

The  manure  spreader  is  another  very  practica  1  farm 
machine. 

The  tiling  of  land  has  been  a  great  improvement  to  much 
of  the  land  here.  It  is  quite  generally  conceded  that  4-inch  tile 
is  as  small  as  should  be  used. 

Fertilizing  the  soil  is  coming  more  and  more  into  vogue 
and  we  believe  that  the  practice  will  increase  very  rapidly  in 
the  next  few  years. 

The  use  of  concrete  on  farms  is  increasing  very  fast  also. 

Corn  is  considered  the  banner  crop  in  this  township  but 
wheat  has  been  doing  very  well  for  several  years,  at  least  it 
has  averaged  better  than  it  used  to  do.  A  great  many  fields 
of  wheat  made  30  bushels  to  the  acre  in  1918.  Some  fields 
made  better  than  40  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  price  of  wheat 
was  fixed  by  the  government  at  $2.26  per  bushel  for  the  1918 
crop  at  Chicago.    The  farmer  got  $2.08  at  his  station. 

Unusual  Events 

The  country  is  subject  to  sudden  changes  of  temperature. 
The  most  notable  was  perhaps  in  the  winter  of  1836-7.  It  was 
a  warm,  misty  day,  with  the  wind  in  the  south  until  about  2 
o'clock  P.  M.,  when  the  wind  suddenly  changed  to  the  north- 
west and  the  two  inches  of  slush  which  was  on  the  ground  was 
turned  to  ice  in  fifteen  minutes.  In  some  instances  hogs  and 
cattle  were  frozen  to  death  standing  up.  Some  people  took 
their  horses  into  their  houses  to  keep  them  from  freezing. 

In  the  winter  of  1874-5,  one  morning  in  January,  the 
weather  was  very  nice  until  about  10  o'clock  a.  m.,  when  it  be- 
gan snowing.  Immediately  afterward  the  wind  began  blow- 
ing from  the  northwest  and  in  one  hour  the  mercury  fell  24 
degrees. 

On  June  5,  1844  occurred  one  of  the  most  destructive 
storms  of  wind,  rain  and  hail.  The  crops  were  almost  totally 
destroyed.  There  was  no  wheat  left  to  cut  and  my  grandfather 
told  me  that  his  corn  crop  that  year  was  only  a  ten  bushel 
box  full  of  nubbins  in  which  was  only  five  bushels  of  corn.  The 
hail  stones  were  as  large  as  goose  eggs. 

What  has  been  known  as  a  hurricane  occurred  in  1857. 


159 

It  was  a  straight  wind  with  rain.  The  storm  was  40  miles  wide 
and  was  severe  enough  to  blow  the  roofs  off  of  many  buildings 
and  blow  some  of  them  down.  I  do  not  know  what  time  of  the 
year  this  storm  was  but  it  must  have  been  in  the  spring  as  I 
have  never  heard  that  it  destroyed  any  crops. 

About  the  first  of  August,  1875,  a  tornado  passed  through 
the  township  from  west  to  east.  A  two-story  house  which 
stood  a  short  distance  west  of  the  Flynn  school  house  in  Court 
Creek  bottom  was  picked  up  and  carried  two  or  three  rods  and 
dashed  into  kindling  wood.  A  good  deal  of  other  damage  was 
done  but  fortunately  no  one  was  injured,  although  this  was  not 
the  case  in  Knox  township. 

On  the  21st  of  May,  1918,  another  tornado  started  ap- 
parently on  Section  28  and  proceeded  in  a  direction  a  littk 
north  of  east,  wrecking  buildings  and  uprooting  even  the  larg- 
est trees  and  passing  about  V2  mile  north  of  Dahinda.  One  mar, 
a  Mr.  Walker,  pump  man  at  the  oil  pumping  station,  was  killed 
and  the  pump  house,  a  concrete  building,  was  completely 
wrecked.  Another  man,  the  name  unknown,  was  blown  a 
distance  of  ten  or  fifteen  rods  and  w^as  found  after  the  storm 
pretty  badly  bruised  but  not  seriously  hurt.  Very  little  dam- 
age was  done  to  the  crops  by  this  storm  as  it  was  so  early  in 
the  season.  The  farm  buildings  of  Henry  Anderson  and  the 
dwelling  house  of  Harry  Little  were  very  badly  wrecked  and 
Mr.  Little  was  himself  unconscious  during  the  storm.  He 
showed  no  marks  where  any  object  had  struck  him  and  he  does 
not  know  what  rendered  him  unconscious. 

Some  winters  we  have  lots  of  snow  and  many  of  the  roads 
are  drifted  so  as  to  make  them  impassible.  In  the  spring  of 
1881  the  snow  lay  on  in  sheltered  places  until  the  first  of  May. 

Dwellings  and  Furnishings 

The  first  houses  in  the  township  were  of  logs.  The  first 
one  is  supposed  to  have  been  that  of  Wm.  Morris  on  Section  26. 

About  8  years  afterwards  there  seem  to  have  been  three 
frame  houses  built  at  about  the  same  time.  Edmond  Russell 
built  a  frame  house  on  his  faiTn  on  section  31  in  1841.  It  was 
burned  down  in  1886.  Captain  Taylor,  who  emigrated  here 
from  Nova  Scotia,  built  the  first  frame  house  in  Trenton  in 
1841.  The  frame  of  this  house  was  sawed  from  native  white 
pine  which  grew  on  what  was  called  Pine  Bluff  about  V2  mile 
north  and  east  of  Trenton.  (The  logs  were  said  to  have  been 
sawed  at  the  Whitton  mill  at  what  is  now  known  as  the  Sumner 
bridge  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Haw  Creek  township.)  The 
third  frame  house  and  the  first  house  to  be  painted  white  was 
built  on  the  Bethel  corner  at  the  center  of  Section  30.  It  was 
built  by  a  Mr.  Davenport  for  his  daughter,  whose  name  was 
Easley. 


160 

James  M.  Maxey  built  the  first  brick  house  in  1851,  mak- 
ing his  own  brick.  The  first  brick  building  was  a  smoke  house 
built  by  T.  D.  Butt.  The  Stevens  house  has  stood  the  longest 
of  any  brick  house  in  the  township.  It  has  stood  about  60 
years.  The  brick  for  it  were  burned  on  the  Biggerstaff  place 
just  across  the  road  from  where  Henry  Wesner  lives.  Sam 
Conaway  burned  the  brick  for  this  house. 

The  frame  house  seems  to  be  the  most  healthful  and  com- 
fortable dwelling  made  although  it  is  not  so  substantial  as  some 
other  materials. 

Some  great  improvements  have  been  made  in  the  furn- 
ishings of  the  dwellings.  The  fireplace  has  given  place  to  the 
range  and  the  furnace,  the  washboard  to  the  power  washer, 
tallow  candle  to  the  incandescent  electric  light  in  a  great  many 
cases,  the  needle  to  the  sewing  machine,  the  melodeon  to  the 
piano  and  the  talking  machine,  the  straw  bed  on  the  floor  to 
the  spring  bed  and  mattress,  the  husk  rug  to  the  Brussels,  the 
Axminster  or  the  Wilton  rug,  the  home-made  lounge  to  the 
hammock  and  the  costly  couch  and  davenport,  the  old  fashioned 
chair  to  expensive  elegance  but  not  to  comfort. 

The  writer  is  not  posted  on  early  amusements,  but  he  has 
heard  his  people  tell  of  some  of  the  things  they  did  in  the  early 
days.  There  were  the  quilting  bees,  the  shooting  matches,  the 
debating  societies,  the  singing  schools,  the  Fourth  of  Julys, 
the  com  huskings  and  the  wool  washings.  As  I  have  never 
seen  the  wool  washing  described  I  will  try  to  do  so.  The  young 
people  would  be  invited  to  a  home  to  spend  the  evening.  Sev- 
eral tubs  would  be  secured  and  in  these  would  be  placed  wool 
and  water.  Then  the  young  people  (young  men  and  women) 
would  gather  around  a  tub,  as  many  as  could  conveniently  do 
so,  remove  their  shoes  and  stockings,  put  them  into  the  tub 
and  work  them  up  and  down  until  the  wool  was  thoroughly 
scoured.  The  washed  wool  would  then  be  removed  and  fresh 
wool  put  in  its  place  and  the  performance  would  go  on  until 
the  wool  was  all  washed  or  until  it  was  time  to  go  home. 

Horse  racing  on  the  road  was  also  one  of  the  incidentals 
of  the  day.  In  the  early  days  the  wagon  boxes  were  put  to- 
gether with  pins  and  could  be  easily  taken  apart  and  some- 
times when  the  wagon  was  being  driven  very  rapidly  the 
pins  would  bounce  out  and  let  the  box  come  to  pieces  of  its 
own  accord.  One  man  who  had  been  to  Peoria  and  was  coming 
home  with  his  groceries  in  the  wagon  box  got  into  a  race  with 
some  other  people  who  were  coming  in  the  same  direction. 
The  race  began  somewhere  east  of  the  Spoon  River  and  lasted 
until  Trenton  was  reached.  When  this  man  stopped  he  had 
neither  groceries  nor  wagon  box,  both  having  been  lost  on  the 
way  and  he  was  sitting  on  the  coupling  pole  of  his  wagon.    He 


161 

might  not  have  stopped  there  if  his  horses  had  not  run  into  a 
tree  and  stopped  themselves. 

Politics 

Politics  in  Persifer  has  sometimes  been  very  interesting 
although  mostly  in  a  small  way. 

Before  the  township  was  organized,  G.  W.  Manley  was 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  The  first  election  was  held  April  5,  1853, 
at  the  White  school  house,  now  known  as  the  Union  or  District 
No.  90.    The  following  officers  were  elected : 

G.  W.  Manley,  Supervisor;  Richard  Daniel,  Clerk;  James 
McCord,  Assessor ;  Williams  T.  Butt,  Collector ;  Wilson  Fearce, 
Overseer  of  the  Poor ;  Francis  Wilison,  Caleb  Reece  and  David 
Cobb,  Commissioners  of  Highways ;  Thomas  Patton  and  R.  W. 
.Miles,  Justices ;  L.  A.  Parkins  and  David  Russell,  Constables. 
G.  W.  Manley  was  moderator  and  Richard  Daniel,  clerk  of  the 
meeting. 

The  writer  does  not  know  when  the  custom  began  but 
when  he  was  a  boy  the  elections  were  held  at  the  Union  school 
house  one  year  and  the  next  at  the  Wyman  school  house. 

About  1892  or  1893,  Mr.  E.  J.  Steffen  offered  his  caiT)en- 
ter  shop  in  the  town  of  Appleton  for  election  purposes  and  it 
was  used  until  the  Town  Hall  was  built  in  1895.  Mr.  E.  J.  Stef- 
fen built  the  hall  for  the  township  at  a  cost  of  $540.00,  The 
elections  have  always  been  held  at  the  hall  ever  since  that  time. 

At  the  time  of  Lincoln's  second  election  feeling  ran  very 
high  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  it  was  not  considered  safe 
to  count  the  ballots  at  the  school  house  so  they  were  brought  to 
my  father's  home  for  counting.  Abram  Rambo,  James  Dos- 
sett,  William  Patton  and  my  father,  R.  W.  Miles,  sat  around 
the  dining  table  with  big  navy  revolvers  lying  handy  and 
counted  the  ballots.  Mr.  Patton,  being  a  long  ways  from  home, 
did  not  go  home  that  night,  but  Mr.  Rambo  went  home  on 
horseback  and  said  he  was  going  to  carry  his  revolver  cocked 
all  the  way.  Mr.  Dossett  went  home  on  foot  across  the  fields. 
He  also  carried  a  revolver  and  he  was  one  of  the  kind  that 
would  have  shot  first  and  made  inquiries  afterwards  if  any  one 
had  tried  to  molest  him  on  that  trip.  We  can  hardly  imagine 
that  such  times  have  ever  existed  in  this  peaceful  country. 

The  following  men  have  been  Supervisor  of  the  township : 
G.  W.  Manley,  R.  W.  Miles,  James  M.  Maxey,  John  Biggerstaff , 
James  Dossett,  R.  C.  Benson,  E.  J.  Wyman,  J.  R.  Young,  W.  H. 
Montgomery,  J.  J.  Patton  and  Geo.  A.  Gibson.  R.  W.  Miles  and 
J.  R.  Young  each  held  the  office  for  about  20  years,  Mr.  Young 
holding  it  for  20  years  continuously  without  opposition.  Mr. 
Miles  was  for  many  years  chairman  of  the  board. 

Mr.  Gibson,  our  present  supervisor,  has  been  quite  severe- 


162 

ly  tested  in  caring  for  the  Liberty  loans  and  the  Red  Cross 
and  other  war  work  organizations,  but  he  has  responded  loy- 
ally and  royally  to  the  calls. 

The  present  township  officers  are:  Geo.  A.  Gibson,  Su- 
pervisor; Leonard  Harmison,  Town  Clerk;  E.  W.  Farquer,  As- 
sessor; Roy  Stevens,  Commissioner  of  Highways;  E.  J.  Stef- 
fen  and  W.  H.  Montgomery,  Justices;  Roy  W.  Manley,  Con- 
stable, Arthur  Berry  having  recently  resigned  from  the  office 
of  Constable;  Arthur  Berry,  Bert  Wagher  and  C.  W.  Harmi- 
son, Trustees  of  Schools  and  J.  W.  Miles,  Township  Treasurer. 

This  is  the  first  year  that  we  have  had  but  one  commis- 
sioner of  highways. 

Old  Settlers 

So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn  there  is  no  one  living 
in  the  township  now  who  has  lived  here  continuously  since 
1850.  Mr.  G.  W.  Sargeant  came  to  the  township  with  his  par- 
ents in  1845  and  settled  on  the  north  1-2  of  the  northeast  1-4  of 
Section  14.  The  Sargeants  have  always  owned  this  farm  since 
then  but  have  not  always  lived  there,  although  they  have  never 
lived  very  far  away.  Henry  Butt,  W.  H.  Montgomeiy  and 
Jacob  Lorance  each  came  to  the  township  in  the  early  fifties. 

So  far  as  we  know  Mr.  W.  G.  Sargeant  and  Dr.  J.  R. 
Bedford  are  the  only  old  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War  who  are 
living  in  the  township  at  this  time. 

The  people  of  Persifer  are  mostly  prosperous  and  happy. 
They  are  situated  on  the  main  line  of  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  R.  R., 
having  a  direct  route  to  the  Chicago  market  for  their  produce. 
They  have  good  homes  and  are  pretty  well  fixed  as  to  this 
world's  goods.  Nearly  all  have  some  kind  of  a  motor  vehicle 
and  some  of  them  have  two  or  three  of  them.  They  always 
went  over  to  top  when  it  came  to  Liberty  loans  and  Red  Cross 
and  all  other  forms  of  war  work  and  they  also  furnished  their 
full  quota  of  men  to  face  the  German  bullets. 

One  of  Persif er's  boys,  a  son  of  N.  L  Cherrington,  was  one 
of  the  first  Knox  county  boys  to  give  his  life  for  his  countiy 
in  France. 

Not  in  the  road  of  the  cannon, 
Not  in  the  roll  of  the  drum, 
:  But  with  love  and  honor  in  our  hearts, 

Let  their  requiem  be  sung, 

Respectfully  submitted, 
J.  W.  MILES. 


163 

HISTORY  OF  RIO  TOWNSHIP 
By  Heber  Gillis 

Joseph  Rowe  is  acknowledged  as  the  first  man  to  settle 
in  Rio  township.  He  built  some  sort  of  a  house,  the  first  one  a 
white  man  put  up  in  the  township,  but  his  future  is  lost  to  the 
history  of  Rio. 

Some  squatters  made  temporary  light  camp  stops  in  the 
early  20's  at  Rio,  and  a  family  that  had  built  a  cabin  on  the 
slope  of  Pope  Creek  near  where  the  State  Aid  Road  now  crosses 
had  their  house  burn  in  the  late  thirties  while  they  were  at 
the  fort  at  the  Snodgrass  house  near  Henderson  on  the  Mc-' 
Murtry  farm. 

John  McMurtry,  whose  daughter  was  the  first  white 
woman  to  be  buried  in  Rio,  came  from  Kentucky  by  way  of 
Indiana  to  Section  33  in  1829.  He  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Black  Hawk  War.  His  descendants  occupy  a  large  space  of 
farming  land  near  North  Henderson;  the  Piatts  of  Gales- 
burg,  together  with  the  Heflins  of  Rio,  are  among  those  now 
living. 

In  1833  Reece,  Sam  and  James  Jones  likewise  came  from 
Kentucky.  Both  Kentucky  families  brought  good  oxen  and 
horse  teams  with  them  and  also  drove  in  good  loose  animals 
of  all  kinds.  Reece  Jones  permanently  settled  in  a  home,  de- 
fended it  from  the  Indians,  and  when  they  burned  one  cabin 
he  built  another  better  than  before.  He  educated  his  family 
in  the  best  schools  of  that  day  within  his  reach,  and  they  moved 
socially  in  the  best  circles  in  the  state.  The  Jones  family  built 
the  first  school  house  in  Rio  township,  aided  by  the  sulDscrip- 
tions  of  other  settlers  in  labor  and  money.  A  Miss  Jones  was 
the  first  teacher. 

In  the  early  thirties  Erasmus  Hall  settled  on  Pope  Creek, 
where  he  operated  a  saw  mill.  Noted  Indians  called  at  his 
home  and  the  trader  Le  Claire  was.  an  acquaintance  of  his. 
Hall's  Ford  was  on  the  trail  from  Peoria  to  Rock  Island  as  was 
also  Bruner's  cabin  near  the  southeast  part  of  the  township. 

Bennet  Fleharty  came  to  Section  6  just  west  of  the  Jones 
family  in  1834.  He  afterwards  kept  a  store  on  his  farm  where 
Fred  Anderson  now  lives. 

Geo.  Simms  settled  about  the  same  time  as  Fleharty  on 
Section  6  in  Rio,  and  Section  1  in  North  Henderson  township, 
Mercer  county,  building  his  house,  which  consisted  of  one  large 
room,  with  one  end  of  it  in  Rio,  Knox  county,  and  the  other  in 
Mercer  county.  At  dances  held  here  it  was  not  uncommon  to 
have  the  music  in  one  county  and  the  dancing  in  the  other. 
When  marriages  were  solemnized  in  this  house,  care  was  taken 


164 

to  have  the  bride  and  groom  stand  well  over  in  the  county  that 
issued  the  license.  Mr.  Simms  gave  public  addresses  to  the 
older  people  on  the  subject  of  slaveru,  outlining  the  history  of 
the  Rebellion  in  advance,  and  made  quite  good  guesses  concern- 
ing the  result. 

Joseph  Hahn  came  from  Pennsylvania  in  1835  and  settled 
in  Section  33  on  a  farm  extending  from  the  south  line  of  the 
township  to  the  center,  much  of  the  way  one  mile  wide.  It 
sloped  gently  to  the  south  and  was  a  most  excellent  farm  with 
good  drainage,  fine  soil,  good  timber  and  was  close  to  the  store 
of  Goff,  the  Baptist  church,  and  the  second  school  house  built 
in  the  township.  All  of  these  public  buildings  Hahn  assisted 
.  in  building  and  maintaining.  He  had  served  in  the  War  of 
1812  and  was  well  fitted  to  engage  in  pioneer  enterprises. 

About  this  same  time  Mr.  Westfall  came  to  Section  6.  The 
year  1835  also  marks  the  advent  of  several  other  Rio  pioneers. 
Pedro  Epperson  and  his  brother,  Edly,  settled  on  the  section 
south  of  Westfall.  Their  brother-in-law,  the  father  of  Dr. 
John  N.  Cox,  came  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  but  soon  moved 
to  some  very  good  farm  land  near  Old  Oxford,  where  he  spent 
the  greater  portion  of  his  life.  During  the  Civil  War  he  was 
given  a  commission  by  Governor  Yates.  Pedro  Epperson,  a 
man  of  great  energy,  soon  had  good  buildings  and  fences.  Im- 
mediately after  locating  he  made  a  large  rail  crib  like  a  house 
and  was  able  to  entertain  his  sister  and  her  family  royally. 
While  the  Jones  and  McMurtry  families  were  forward  in  school 
building,  the  Simms  and  Epperson  families  did  their  share  in 
maintaining  same.  Pedro  Epperson  and  his  descendants  are 
reputed  to  have  owned  at  times  a  strip  of  six  sections  a  mile 
wide  across  the  township. 

Geo.  W.  Weir  built  a  flat-boat  and  floated  down  the  Miss- 
issippi River  to  New  Boston  in  1835,  where  he  chopped  wood 
for  the  original  Drury  of  that  place.  In  the  winter  of  that  year 
being  in  need  of  bacon  he  walked  to  the  home  of  the  original 
Jones  family  in  Rio  township.  On  his  return  trip  with  the 
bacon  on  his  back,  the  wolves  bothered  him  considerably.  As 
a  result  of  this  trip  to  Rio  he  hired  to  Sam  Jones  for  $3.00  a 
month  and  stayed  two  or  three  years.  As  part  of  his  pay  he 
took  a  pair  of  steers  and  some  wheat,  putting  the  latter  in  a 
rail  pen  chinked  with  straw.  Two  or  three  years  later  he  drove 
the  steers  to  Milan  and  traded  the  wheat  for  log  chains.  He 
also  acquired  another  breaking  team  of  oxen.  Mr.  Weir  lived 
to  be  over  ninety  years  of  age. 

In  1835  Isaac  M.  Wetmore  came  to  Rio  with  John  Wycoff 
on  horse-back  by  way  of  Chicago  where  he  partly  bargained 
for  160  acres  of  land.  Later  he  relinquished  it  for  more  till- 
able land  on  the  Rio  and  Ontario  line.  Dearborn  St.  is  on  the 
Chicago  land  which  he  contemplated  buying  or  is  a  boundaiy 


165 

of  it.  Mr.  Wetmore  ran  a  store  in  Rio  on  the  slope  south  of 
the  Washington  school  house  and  afterward  established  a  very 
fine  farm  on  both  sides  of  the  township  line  with  extra  fine 
buildings  on  the  Ontario  side  of  the  line. 

In  1835  Michael  Bruner  drove  a  pair  of  oxen  from  Breck- 
enridge  county,  Kentucky,  to  Rio,  bringing  his  wife  and  young 
family.  Later  Mrs.  Bruner  died.  In  1839  he  drove  a  pair  of 
oxen  to  the  same  place  in  Kentucky  and  brought  a  second  wife, 
his  father,  Adam  Bruner,  and  his  uncle,  Peter  Bruner,  with 
him  to  Rio.  Both  the  elder  Bruners  had  spent  long  years 
preaching  the  gospel.  They  with  their  two  brothers  had  served 
in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  all  four  were  later  buried  in  a 
cemetery  on  the  Bruner  farm.  Knox  county  now  owns  this 
site  and  has  erected  a  monument  to  their  memory.  The  Bruner 
farm  in  1850  had  a  licensed  tavern  upon  it  and  possessed  un- 
usual buildings  for  that  day.  It  was  on  the  trail  from  Peoria 
to  Rock  Island  and  during  the  Civil  War  fruit  from  its  fine 
orchard  sold  for  $50  per  tree  on  the  stem. 

About  this  time  Michael  Loveridge,  an  English  educated 
veterinary,  settled  about  one  mile  west  of  Joseph  Hahn.  He 
was  a  useful  and  highly  respected  man  in  this  community, 
preaching  the  plain  truth  of  the  gospel  in  a  fearless  manner 
during  the  forties  and  up  to  1862,  when  he  moved  to  Oregon. 
Hahn,  Loveridge,  the  Deatherages  and  Lewis  Goff  built  the 
second  school  house  in  the  township,  also  a  Baptist  church 
which,  with  the  store  of  Goff 's,  made  the  south  central  part  of 
the  township  quite  a  public  settlement. 

Samuel  Brown  came  about  this  time  to  the  west  of  these 
and  is  the  only  one  of  this  group  now  living,  being  more  than 
ninety  years  of  age. 

Soon  the  Woodman's,  the  Larkin  Robertson  family,  the 
two  Coe's,  Lewis  and  Nelson,  with  Benjamin  Harvey  and 
Luther  Fitch,  settled  more  centrally  in  Rio  township. 

John  D.  Bartlett  and  family  came  in  1842.  Wm.  Dailey, 
James  Hinchliff,  Philip  Prior  and  David  Woodman  built  near 
the  center,  with  Wm.  Barnard  a  little  farther  north. 

The  first  period  when  the  very  early  settlers  came  was  a 
ranch  life.  Cattle  and  hogs  ran  loose  on  the  open  prairie.  The 
small  grain  fields  were  fenced.  A  law  of  "common  field"  pre- 
vailed ;  everybody  gathered  his  corn  and  the  cattle  were  turned 
on  the  fenced  section  to  feed  at  will.  Later,  as  the  farms  were 
cultivated,  the  law  caused  the  stock  to  be  taken  from  the 
highways  and  no  open  prairie  grass  was  left.  The  cows  that 
the  early  settlers  brought  were  good  stock.  The  Kentucky 
settlers  later  brought  fine  beef  sires. 

The  pioneer  traveled  in  wagons,  on  horse-back,  and  on  foot. 


166 

He  was  wont  to  stop  at  the  nearest  house  for  dinner  or  lodging 
and  was  always  welcome.  He  brought  the  news  of  his  locality 
and  they  told  him  of  their  affairs  so  that  he  was  a  medium  of 
intelligence  at  his  next  stopping  place.  The  amusements  were 
dances,  foot  races,  ball  games,  horse  races,  military  training 
etc.  There  were  no  more  capable  men  at  caring  for  their  af- 
fairs than  the  first  settlers.  They  met  every  emergency.  They 
fed,  clothed,  nursed  and  buried  their  neighbors  with  their  own 
hands.  A  common  bond  bound  the  various  settlements  to- 
gether. The  pioneers  in  the  forties  lived  in  substantial  log 
houses.  About  all  the  money  they  could  spare  was  for  door 
latches  and  "trimming  salt,"  which  was  scarce.  Health  failed 
without  it,  and  expeditions  were  planned  to  get  it. 

Many  interesting  things  could  be  related  concerning  the 
early  pioneers.  A.  J.  Streeter  herded  some  cattle  in  the  cen- 
tral part  of  Rio  township  and  watered  them  at  the  Collins 
spring.  Later  he  was  nominated  for  President  of  the  United 
States  on  the  National  ticket.  Quite  a  number  of  his  planks 
came  to  be  beams  and  stringers  in  suggesting  improvement  of 
the  present  national  policy. 

Frank  Hickley  and  Peter  McCartner,  Jr.,  also  herded  cattle 
and  drove  them  to  the  same  spring.  The  former  one  day 
walked  into  a  railroad  auction  sale,  bid  off  an  entire  railroad, 
and  paid  cash  for  it.  The  latter  after  quitting  the  cattle  indus- 
dustry  engraved  some  fine  greenbacks  which  the  United  States 
treasury  afterward  unwittingly  accepted  as  genuine. 

In  the  early  fifties  Robson  Bros,  establish  a  cash  corn 
market  of  large  proportions.  It  gave  an  outlet  for  more  corn 
and  made  it  easier  for  the  settlers  to  pay  for  land.  During 
the  years  when  Rio  had  no  railroad  facilities  this  cash  market 
contributed  greatly  to  the  community's  prosperity. 

Before  the  Township  Organization  Act,  citizens  of  Rio 
and  Ontario  voted  in  Ontario.  Later  Rio  Settlement  was  a  part 
of  the  political  unit  of  Ontario.  Squire  Mosher  of  Ontario  was 
territorial  judge  while  the  two  were  one  unit.  Reuben  Heflin, 
Samuel  Brown,  John  Robson,  Samuel  May,  John  Wycoff,  Ro- 
bert Deatherage  and  James  Deatherage  have  all  voted  in  the 
territory^  of  Ontario. 

•  The  first  Civil  War  Veteran  was  Abner  Titus. 

In  1870  the  Rockford,  Rock  Island  &  St.  Louis  Railroad 
came  to  the  east  township  of  Mercer  county  on  the  way  to 
Rock  Island  with  no  charter  to  enter  Knox  county.  Pope  Creek 
is  a  deep  stream  and  tributaries  run  northwest  in  east  Mercer 
county.  Rio  township  had  a  better  crossing.  In  Knox  county, 
it  was  then  lawful  to  vote  aids  to  railroads.  The  convention  to 
frame  a  new  state  constitution  was  in  session.  The  railroad 
wanted  aid  to  build  a  right-of-way  without  condemnation.     It 


167 

was  expected  the  new  constitution  would  forbid  voting  aid  to 
railroads.  The  town  was  nearly  evenly  divided  before  voting 
aid  but  the  affirmative  gained  during  the  canvassing  and  Rio 
bought  its  share  of  the  improvements.  This  resulted  in  locat- 
ing the  road  from  Monmouth  to  Rio  and  on  to  Rock  Island,  and 
later  the  connecting  line  from  Galesburg  to  Rio  was  built,  giv- 
ing the  township  plenty  of  transportation.  In  getting  the 
right-of-way  near  Pope  Creek  the  full  value  of  the  land  for  the 
entire  farm  was  paid  to  the  owner  and  only  one  hundred  feet 
wide  was  taken. 

Some  of  the  more  or  less  prominent  men  about  this  time 
include  the  following:  S.  W.  May,  who  invented  and  defended 
his  invention  in  court  of  the  May  windmill,  now  owned  and 
manufactured  by  his  niece,  Miss  Duwaine  Phymister,  of  Chi- 
cago, at  her  factory  in  Galesburg;  Robson  Eros.,  William,  John 
and  Robert,  who  handled  most  of  the  fat  cattle  raised  just  be- 
fore and  during  the  Civil  War  from  Rio  and  New  Boston ;  Chas. 
Bryant,  kinsman  of  the  noted  poet  by  that  name,  and  himself  a 
writer  of  poetry ;  F.  A.  Landon,  Sr:,  adept  in  verbal  squibs ; 
David  B.  Woodman,  the  largest  man  in  Knox  county,  who  ran 
fifty  yards  in  record  time,  beating  a  sprinting  stranger  who 
bantered  him. 

No  less  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  community  and 
active  in  all  forward-looking  enterprises  was  Heber  Gillis,  who, 
with  his  brother,  Theodore,  came  to  Rio  township  on  Christ- 
mas, 1856.  Their  father,  Dr.  Geo.  Gillis,  followed  them  in  the 
fall  of  1859. 

Hall,  Heflin,  and  Edw.  Grain,  together  with  the  elder 
Deatherage,  sawed  the  lumber  for  the  first  frame  house. 

Benjamin  Harvey  was  a  pioneer  thresher,  going  as  far 
as  Rock  Island  in  a  fall  and  winter  run.  The  grain  was  torn 
from  the  straw.  Men  pitched  it  away  and  later  separated  the 
grain  from  the  chaff  and  cockle  burrs  with  fanning  mills. 
Some  boys  left  home  for  California  after  turning  the  mill  one 
season. 

Samuel  Brown ,  Harrison  Shannon,  Reuben  Heflin  and 
Thomas  Jones  were  among  the  early  officers  of  the  township, 
both  as  supervisors  and  as  justices  of  the  peace.  Robert 
Deatherage,  Gilbert  Wetmore,  Benjamin  Harvey,  James  Mans- 
field and  F.  M.  Epperson  have  been  justices  of  the  peace  for 
long  terms.  B.  E.  Frankenberger  now  occupies  that  position 
also. 

The  Black  Hawk  War,  the  Mexican  War,  the  Civil  War, 
the  Spanish  War,  and  now  the  most  uncalled  for  slaughter  of 
men  ever  known — all  have  called  for  many  of  our  best  men  and 
women,  in  some  cases  whole  families  responding. 

The  original  prairie  was  called  wet.    The  subsoil  held  water 


168 

often  too  long  during  wet  seasons.  The  ground  often  baked 
before  it  could  be  cultivated.  Tile  drains  are  now  used  freely 
and  little  trouble  is  experienced  from  the  extremes  of  wet  and 
dry.  Large  sums  of  money  are  buried  out  of  sight  in  tile,  but 
they  are  permanent  improvements,  being  just  as  good  as  when 
laid  forty  years  ago.  Progressive  farmers  still  think  that  a 
larger  outlet  would  prevent  a  cold,  slow  growth  of  com  as  in 
1917.  Hog  disease  has  been  conquered  largely.  Tuberculosis 
cattle  are  being  weeded  out.  Horses  are  larger  and  better  for 
farming.  Roads  are  better.  The  man  power  is  much  greater 
than  fifty  years  ago.  Many  plows  have  passed  the  experi- 
mental stage.  One  man  handles  twice  as  many  horses  as  then. 
Planters  approach  perfection ;  binders  work  like  clocks.  Grain 
separators  are  wonders  as  compared  with  those  of  years  ago. 
Much  money  has  been  spent  in  improving  stock  and  grain,  and 
the  results  are  plain  to  be  seen. 

Rio  township  is  the  home  of  some  fine  thoroughbred  stock, 
especially  cattle.  That  one  herd  of  Shorthorns  was  selected 
with  intelligent  care  is  revealed  by  the  fact  that  they  are  des- 
cendants of  tribes  originated  and  bred  by  such  famed  Aber- 
deenshire breeders  as  Cuickshank,  Duthie,  Campbell  and  Lord 
Lovat  and  the  present  generation  is  the  product  of  sires  and 
dams  of  America's  best.  Four  are  daughters  of  the  great  sire 
Lord  Avondale,  a  bull  which  sold  for  five  thousand  dollars  at 
auction  in  1916  and  is  now  conceded  to  be  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful of  the  breed.  Others  are  by  Sultan  Goods  of  the  "Sul- 
tan" tribe.  Challenge  Victor,  the  Dutchman,  a  grandson  of  the 
St.  Louis  World's  Fair  champion,  Choice  Goods,  White  Gloster 
by  Fair  Acres  Sultan,  Baron  Kerr  H,  Lucky  Pride  H,  a  grand- 
grandson  of  The  Lad  for  Me,  Glen  View,  Dale  HI,  by  the  fam- 
ous sire,  Avondale.  Revealing  as  this  does  unusual  strength 
of  blood  through  the  sires,  many  of  the  dams  too  are  equally 
attractive  and  have  a  record  as  producers  that  stands  high ; 
for  instance,  the  cow  Lucky  Clari  produced  a  bull  that  was 
purchased  by  Francisco  Maissa  for  shipment  to  the  Argentine 
and  a  calf  from  Verbena  Lass  has  found  a  home  in  the  herd 
owned  by  Dr.  Rabey,  Gatesville,  Texas.  Two  well  bred  bulls, 
Bud  Avondale,  by  Lord  Avondale;  and  Challenge  Victor,  by 
Challenge  Mysie,  are  samples  of  the  high-bred  stock  to  be 
found  in  Rio  township.  Illinois  is  richer  because  of  this  select 
collection  of  the  breed  for  the  reason  that  permanent  agricul- 
ture and  soil  improvement  go  hand  in  hand  with  live  stock  pro- 
duction. 

The  schools  of  Rio  township  are  of  the  district  grade. 
There  are  two  churches  in  the  community,  the  Methodist 
and  Congregational,  Rev.  Glen  A.  Rowles  being  the  resident 
pastor  of  the  latter. 


169 

Rio  has  a  railroad  junction  with  unusually  good  train 
service,  a  fine  bank  building,  and  other  improvements.  In 
1917  the  road  tax  amounted  to  $19,000.  Three  hundred  and 
eighty-two  autos  assist  transportation.  The  township  as  a 
whole  is  prosperous  and  progressive  in  every  Way. 


170 

SALEM  TOWNSHIP 
From  Sketch  by  L.  A.  Lawrence 

Salem  lies  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Knox  County  and  is 
bounded  on  the  east  by  Peoria  County  and  on  the  south  by  Ful- 
ton county.  There  are  only  a  few  townships  that  have  as  fine 
physical  features  or  as  marked  beauty  of  outline  as  this.  Com- 
mencing at  a  point  known  as  Kent's  Mound,  on  Section  12, 
which  rises  forty  or  fifty  feet  above  the  common  level,  a  some- 
what irregular  ridge,  sometimes  called  "divide,"  runs  through 
the  entire  township,  from  east  to  west,  taking  the  name  of 
Pease  Hill  in  its  center  and  terminating  at  Uniontown,  on  Sec- 
tion 13,  at  its  extreme  western  edge. 

Salem  was  organized  under  the  general  law  relating  to 
townships  on  April  5,  1853,  by  an  election  held  in  a  log  school 
house  near  Michael  Egan's  home,  on  Section  20.  S.  S.  Buffum 
was  chosen  Supervisor;  William  Gray,  Clerk;  J.  E.  Knable,  As- 
sessor; D.  Waldo,  Collector;  T.  A.  Croy,  G.  W.  Euke  and  J. 
Jordan,  Justices;  M.  B.  Mason,  A.  Kent  and  J.  E.  Duel,  High- 
way Commissioners ;  J.  Taylor  and  D.  Waldo,  Constables,  and 
G.  Christman,  Overseer  of  the  Poor. 

John  Sloan  has  been  the  supervisor  most  frequently  re- 
elected, having  served  eight  terms  of  one  year  each,  at  different 
periods,  and  others  of  from  one  year  to  three  years. 

The  first  settlement  was  made  by  Alexander  Taylor,  on 
the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  6,  in  October,  1834.  He  was 
soon  followed  by  Felix  and  John  Thurman,  Henry  and  Avery 
Dalton,  Solomon  Sherwood,  Benoni  Hawkins,  William  Kent, 
John  Darnell,  John  Haskins  and  Sala  Blakesbee,  most  of  whom 
brought  their  families  with  them. 

The  first  birth  recorded  was  that  of  little  Laura,  daugh- 
ter of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Haskins,  in  1835,  and  the  first  to  be 
joined  in  wedlock  were  Avery  and  Delilah  Dalton,  cousins,  who 
were  married  in  1855,  by  Squire  Mark  Thurman.  The  same 
year  occurred  the  first  death,  that  of  Andrew  Corbin. 

The  early  settlers  brought  their  religious  faith  and  prac- 
tice with  them  and  held  prayer  meetings  from  time  to  time 
at  convenient  places.  Their  pious  devotion  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  Rev.  Henry  Somers,  who  visited  the  settlement  in  No- 
vember, 1835  or  36,  and  preached  the  first  sermon  at  the  home 
of  William  Kent,  on  Section  13. 

The  first  saw  mill  was  built  by  James  Mason  on  Kickapoo 
Creek,  in  Section  13,  in  1835  or  '36 ;  another,  a  little  later,  by 
Anderson  Corbin,  on  the  same  stream,  on  Section  14. 

The  people  of  Salem  have  shown  an  enlightened  public 
spirit  in  the  matter  of  good  highways,  and  have  provided  a 


171 

system  of  good,  substantial,  iron  bridges,  set  upon  firm  stone 
abutments,  over  all  the  principal  streams  with  stone  culverts 
over  most  of  the  smaller  ones.  The  question  of  constructing, 
grading  and  repairing  the  highways,  was  many  years  ago,  by 
vote,  left  solely  to  the  discretion  of  the  highway  commis- 
sioners. The  result  has  been  a  uniform  system  of  grading, 
which  with  thoroughly  underdraining,  affords  the  best  roads 
obtainable  on  prairie  soil  without  resort  to  the  Macadam  pro- 
cess. 

Salem  has  an  abundant  supply  of  bituminous  coal,  which 
has  been  mined  for  local  use  from  an  early  date  along  the 
banks  of  the  streams  skirting  the  north  and  south  sides  of 
the  township.  The  most  productive  mines  are  found  along 
the  Kickapoo  and  Littler's  Creeks.  The  first  mining  of  which 
any  record  had  been  preserved  was  successfully  undertaken  by 
Pittman  and  Barlow,  blacksmiths,  of  Farmington,  Fulton 
county,  who,  in  1832,  took  coal  from  the  soil  of  Section  25, 
for  use  in  their  own  forges.  Avery  Dalton  was  the  first  to 
mine  to  any  appreciable  extent  for  commercial  pui^poses.  He 
began  operations  on  the  same  section  three  years  later.  Sev- 
eral drillings  at  Yates  City  have  developed  extensive  and  valu- 
able veins,  at  depths  varying  from  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  upward. 

Not  the  least  important  among  the  industries  which  have 
helped  to  elevate  Salem  Township  to  its  present  position  among 
the  foremost  in  the  county  is  that  of  stock-growing.  Many  of 
the  most  progressive  farmers  make  the  breeding  of  improved 
varieties  a  special  feature  of  their  farm  work.  Among  the 
prominent  stock  raisers  may  be  named:  N.  G.  Daughmer  and 
Son,  D.  Corey  and  Son,  J.  M.  Corey,  H.  A.  and  James  Sloan,  E. 
H.  Ware,  Frank  Runyon,  A.  D.  Moore  and  R.  J.  McKeighan. 
The  efforts  of  these  men  and  others  who  might  be  mentioned 
have  resulted  in  elevating  the  standard  established  for  fine 
stock  to  as  high  a  point  in  Salem  as  will  be  found  in  the  best 
farming  sections  of  the  State. 

There  are  ten  school  districts  in  Salem,  numbered  in  order 
to  the  ninth,  the  tenth  being  called  Center,  The  last  named  is 
located  on  School  Section  16.  Of  the  ten  school  buildings,  two, 
in  Districts  3  and  4  are  of  brick,  the  others  are  frame.  The 
first  school  house  was  located  on  Section  13,  in  1838,  in  what 
is  now  District  No.  1,  and  the  first  school  was  taught  by  Abiel 
Drew.  The  second  school  was  erected  in  either  the  same  or  the 
succeeding  year,  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  Section  6.  It  was 
of  logs,  and  had  been  originally  put  up  by  James  Hogue  for  a 
dwelling.  Section  6  now  forms  a  part  of  District  No.  2.  Of  the 
ten  schools,  only  the  one  in  Yates  City  is  graded. 

Every  school  in  Salem  has  the  benefit  of  a  library  of 


172 

greater  or  lesser  size  and  value,  which  owe  their  origin  to  W. 
L.  Steele  and  the  history  of  their  establishment  may  be  told  in 
a  few  words.  In  September,  1878,  Mr.  Steele,  then  Principal 
of  a  graded  school  in  Yates  City,  proposed  to  the  School  Board, 
composed  of  Dr.  J.  D.  Holt,  J.  M.  Taylor  and  L.  A.  Lawrence, 
the  orgnization  of  a  school  and  public  library,  to  be  under  the 
control  of  the  board,  and  open  at  all  times  to  pupils  of  the 
schools,  and  to  the  pupils  upon  payment  of  a  membership  fee. 
The  scheme  also  contemplated  the  solicitation  of  donations  of 
books  and  money.  The  plan  was  adopted.  The  movement  com- 
manded public  support  from  the  first,  and  the  library  has  now 
grown  to  large  dimensions  and  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  State 
for  a  community  of  that  size. 

In  the  Civil  War  182  served  from  this  township.  One  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one  served  in  various  regiments  of  infantry, 
numbered  from  the  Seventh  to  the  One  Hundred  and  Thirty- 
second.  Forty-five  were  attached  to  the  Eighty-third,  and 
Twenty-eight  in  the  Seventy-seventh  .  Twenty-nine  are  cred- 
ited as  having  served  in  the  Seventh,  Eleventh,  Twelfth  and 
Fourteenth  Cava  !lry,  and  two  in  the  Second  Illinois  Artillery. 
In  addition,  several  are  known  to  have  enlisted  in  regiments 
from  other  states,  notably  in  the  Eighth  Missouri  Infantry, 
viz.;  William  S.  Kleckner,  Frank  Murphy,  Frank  and  Fred 
Hamilton,  Henry  Ledgerman,  James  Dundas,  Chester  Vickery, 
George  Frost,  William  Hull,  William  Taylor  and  William  Reed, 
besides,  probably  others,  many  of  whom  have  never  been  cred- 
ited, either  to  Knox  County  or  to  Salem  Township.  James  H. 
Walton  was  probably  the  first  enlisted  man  from  Salem,  having 
joined  the  Seventh  Infantry  from  Yates  City,  which  was  the 
first  regiment  organized  in  1861.  A  draft  was  ordered  to  com- 
plete Salem's  quota  under  the  last  call  for  men  in  1864,  and 
four  names  were  drawn. 

Salem's  record  in  the  war  with  Spain,  1898,  is  an  extra- 
ordinary one,  the  township  having  furnished  fourteen  men  out 
of  a  possible  one  hundred  and  fifty  for  the  whole  county,  the 
most  of  whom  served  in  Company  C,  of  the  Sixth  Infantry. 
The  Mexican  War  of  1846  had  one  representative  here,  in  the 
person  of  R.  B.  Corbin,  who  served  in  the  Third  United  States 
Dragoons. 

In  1837  a  postoffice  was  established,  called  Middle  Grove, 
near  what  was  later  Uniontown,  Henry  Merrell  being  placed 
in  charge.  It  is  said  that  Thomas  Morse  offered  a  whole  day's 
labor  to  secure  a  letter  on  which  the  postage  had  not  been  paid, 
money  being  then  very  scarce,  but  his  offer  was  refused. 

Sala  Blakesbee  is  credited  with  erecting  the  first  frame 
building  for  a  barn,  in  1837,  on  Section  19,  but  it  was  destroyed 
by  fire  the  same  year. 


173 

The  scales  of  justice  were  first  held  by  William  Davis  in 
1836. 

The  underground  railroad  had  a  well  defined  "route" 
through  Salem  in  ante-bellum  days,  and  many  a  poor  slave, 
fleeing  for  life  and  liberty  had  occasion  to  thank  the  "officers" 
thereof  for  their  active  vigilance  in  his  behalf. 

The  moral  and  religious  advancement  of  the  people  has 
kept  even  pace  with  their  material  development,  as  is  shown 
by  their  work  in  the  early  churches  and  in  kindred  societies. 
In  early  days,  preaching  services  were  held  in  School  houses, 
and  all  convenient  places. 

In  Salem  township  are  Uniontown,  Douglas  and  Yates 
City,  and  it  is  in  the  last  named  that  the  famous  Harvest  Home 
festival,  first  held  in  1886,  is  annually  celebrated. 

The  township  also  made  a  notable  record  in  the  late  World 
War. 


174 

SPARTA  TOWNSHIP 
From  Sketch  by  E.  H.  Goldsmith 

This  township  was  organized  April  5,  1853,  at  the  home  of 
Thomas  H.  Taylor,  on  Section  14,  and  the  following  town  offi- 
cers were  elected:  T.  H.  Taylor,  Supervisor;  Asaph  DeLong 
Clerk;  Stephen  Smith,  Assessor;  Charles  R.  Rhodes,  Collector; 
D.  Reed,  Stephen  Russell  and  Peter  Davis,  Highway  Commis- 
sioners; Moran  Baker  and  Hugh  Ferguson,  Justices  of  the 
Peace,  and  Marshall  P.  Belong,  Constable.  Mr.  DeLong  after- 
wards served  the  town  as  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  twenty-five 
years.  S.  .G  Dean  served  eight  years,  and  John  J.  Sutor  for  a 
number  of  years.  William  Robson  served  long  continuously  as 
supervisor. 

While  Hezekiah  Buford  has  the  credit  of  being  the  first 
settler  by  building  on  Section  23,  in  1834,  the  Wilmots  have  a 
record  for  longest  continuous  residence  on  the  same  land,  for 
Amos  Wilmot  built  a  log  cabin  in  June,  1836,  on  Section  6,  in 
which  he  lived  for  fifteen  years.  He  then  built  a  house,  where 
he  lived  until  his  death  in  1878.  Very  soon  after  his  arrival 
came  Reuben,  Cyrus  and  Edward  Robbins,  brothers,  and  Levi 
Roberts,  a  cousin.  The  first  of  these  was  about  the  last  of  the 
early  settlers.  To  him  we  are  indebted  for  some  of  the  inform- 
ation given  in  this  sketch.  From  the  fact  that  Levi  Robbins 
having  raised  a  large  orchard  and  other  trees  "Robbins'  Grove" 
was  for  many  years  a  noted  land-mark  and  people  came  long 
distances  for  apples,  as  well  as  to  hold  picnics.  In  1836,  Asaph 
DeLong  (who  built  the  first  house  between  Knoxville  and 
Heath  timber),  Luman  Field  and  William  Heath  settled  on 
Section  31.  The  latter  was  married  at  Knoxville  to  Lucinda 
Field  in  1837,  and  "hung  up"  housekeeping  in  their  log  cabin,  a 
picture  of  which  is  still  preserved.  In  a  northeast  direction 
they  had  but  one  neighbor  nearer  than  Victoria.  Mrs.  Heath 
was  a  member  of  the  society  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  she  being  a  granddaughter  of  Elisha  Field,  Jr.,  and 
a  great  granddaughter  of  Elisha  Field,  Sr.,  both  of  whom 
fought  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  She  possessed  papers  show- 
ing the  entire  war  history  of  her  illustrious  ancestors.  Her 
grandchildren  presented  her  with  the  badge  of  the  society, 
which  is  an  old-fashioned  spinning  wheel  with  beautiful  sur- 
roundings and  inscriptions. 

James  Neely  settled  on  Section  30  in  1838,  and  Abram 
Neely  on  Section  5  a  few  years  later.  Other  early  settlers 
were :  B.  Ely,  Thomas  and  George  W.  Faulkner,  Booker  Pick- 
rel  and  C.  C.  West.  Among  those  who  came  subsequently  and 
who,  with  those  already  mentioned,  as  well  as  those  who  will 
be  noticed  hereafter,  have  been  influential  in  the  political  and 


175 

religious  prosperity  of  the  township,  are  Solomon  Lyon,  J.  V. 
R.  Carley,  Schuyler  Goldsmith,  A.  F.  Adams,  William  E.  Morse, 
Henry  Rommel,  L.  W.  Olson,  Oliver  Stream,  Joseph  Masters, 
J.  H.  Merrill,  James  Paddock,  Edmund  Kennedy,  James  Barry, 
WilHam  S.  Patterson,  William  A.  Lee,  Jr.,  D.  W.  Nisley,  R.  W. 
Hulse,  Vickrey  Nation,  Ransom  Babcock,  F.  Z.  Wikoff,  G.  S. 
Hawkins  and  John  Taylor.  The  latter  was  assessor  for  over 
30  years. 

The  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  passes  through  Sparta 
in  a  diagonal  line  from  near  the  northeast  to  the  southwest 
corner.  In  November  1894,  the  Galesburg,  Etherely  and  Great 
Eastern  Railroad  was  opened,  running  twelve  miles  east,  to 
strike  a  great  coal  belt  of  some  eighty-two  sections,  the  center 
of  which  is  Etherely,  where  the  company  placed  a  shaft  cost- 
ing $30,000.  This  company  suspended  railroad  operations 
on  September  7,  1895,  but  resumed  December  7,  1897,  under 
the  name  of  the  Galesburg  and  Great  Eastern,  with  Edward 
J.  Harms  as  manager. 

Prairie  fires  in  early  days  were  beautiful  to  witness  and 
oftentimes  to  be  dreaded.  At  one  time  a  fire  which  is  said 
to  have  started  at  Red  Oak  in  Henry  county,  threatened  to  de- 
vastate the  farms  of  the  new  settlers,  but  warning  Vv'as  given 
those  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  township  by  Maria,  daugh- 
ter of  Luman  Field,  in  time  to  avert  the  approaching  catastro- 
phe. 

Sparta,  both  before  and  during  the  Civil  War,  contained 
quite  a  number  of  abolitionists,  among  them  was  Abram  Neely, 
a  conductor  on  the  underground  railroad.  Some  of  the  old 
citizens  still  remember  his  hiding  fugitive  slaves  at  his  home 
and  taking  them  a  night's  ride  to  the  next  station. 

The  population  of  Sparta  township  has  been:  1840,  113; 
1870,  1,950;  1800,  1,682;  1890,  1,293.  For  later  figures  see 
elsewhere. 

Wataga 

Wataga  was  platted  in  the  Spring  of  1854  by  J.  M.  Holy- 
oke,  Silas  Willard  and  Clark  M.  Carr,  and  was  incoi-porated  by 
a  special  act  in  1863.  The  first  village  election  was  held  Sep- 
tember 19,  1863.  In  1874  it  was  re-incorporated,  under  the 
general  law,  with  Section  16  as  the  village  territory.  J.  M. 
Holyoke  was  the  first  resident  and  postmaster,  and  also  built 
the  first  store  in  conjunction  with  A.  P.  Cassel.  This  was 
operated  by  Willard  and  Babcock.  The  first  bank  in  the  place 
was  started  in  1863  by  H.  P.  Wood.  The  depot  was  built  in 
1856,  and  in  the  same  year  the  Wataga  House  was  erected  and 
operated  by  GaiTett  Post  for  one  year,  when  Loren  Smith 
bought  and  conducted  it  for  one  year,  and  for  years  it  was  the 


176 

property  of  C.  H.  Norton.  The  Wataga  mill  was  built  by  Wil- 
liam Armstrong  in  1856,  and  soon  afterwards  was  damaged  by 
an  explosion  in  which  John  Armstrong  was  seriously  injured. 
George  F.  and  David  P.  Niles,  now  extensive  farmers  and  fine 
stock-raisers,  bought  the  mill  in  May,  1867,  and  ran  it  very 
successfully  for  eight  years,  patrons  coming  long  distances 
with  their  own  wheat  and  receiving  entire  satisfaction.  Among 
those  who  have  since  owned  the  mill  are:  William  and  M.  O. 
Williamson,  who  introduced  expensive  modern  machinery  and 
Frank  Darst,  who  also  put  in  improvements  and  did  excellent 
work. 

The  First  Congregational  Church  was  organized  June  10, 
1855,  and  the  church  society  October  27,  1856.  The  church 
organization  was  led  by  the  Rev.  S.  G.  Wright.  The  first  meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  depot,  where  the  first  sermon  was  preached. 
Subsequent  services  were  held  in  the  newly  completed  school 
house  until  1860,  when  a  substantial  church,  costing  over 
$3,000,  was  erected,  to  which  in  1876,  a  parsonage  was  added 
at  a  cost  of  $2,000.  The  original  members  were:  A.  P.  Bab- 
cock,  William  S.  Farnham,  Mrs.  Maria  S.  Farnham,  Mrs.  C.  F. 
Farnsworth,  Benjamin  Gardner,  Mrs.  Abigail  Gardner,  Miss 
Sarah  Gardner,  Mrs.  Minerva  Holyoke,  Charles  W.  Rhodes  and 
Mrs.  Jane  Rhodes.  Wm.  S.  Farnham  served  as  deacon  for  30 
years.  James  Hastie  also  served  as  deacon  until  his  demise  in 
1879  and  was  succeeded  by  Amos  S.  Fitch,  the  latter  holding 
the  office  until  his  death  in  1882.  Among  the  secretaries  of 
the  society  have  been  Hon.  John  Gray,  of  Jefferson  Iowa;  the 
late  J.  M.  Holyoke  and  E.  H.  Goldsmith,  the  latter  of  whom 
held  that  office  twenty-four  years  and  was  church  clerk  for 
thirty  years.  This  church  has  had  many  pastors.  Among 
those  who  have  faithfully  served  in  that  capacity  may  be  men- 
tioned the  Revs.  Azariah  Hyde,  William  W.  Wetmore,  Hiram 
P.  Roberts,  Prof.  Willis  J.  Beecher,  of  Auburn  (New  York) 
Theological  Seminary,  and  William  R.  Butcher,  the  last  named 
serving  six  years.  The  Sunday  school  records  show  that  on 
December  26,  1869,  the  membership  was  two  hundred  and 
the  average  attendance  one  hundred  and  forty-eight.  John 
Hastie  was  the  secretary  and  E.  H.  Goldsmith  the  superintend- 
ent, the  latter  holding  that  office  for  twenty-five  years.  The 
late  George  P.  Holyoke  and  William  M.  Driggs,  with  their  wives 
rendered  valuable  assistance  in  former  years. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was  organized  in  1856  by 
the  Rev.  William  M.  Clark,  whose  circuit  consisted  of  Oneida, 
Wesley  Chapel  and  Wataga.  He  made  his  journeys  on  foot. 
Mr.  Clark  gave  the  site  of  Gilson  camp  ground  to  this  dis- 
trict. Arnong  the  early  members  were  S.  F.  Spaulding,  John 
Gaddis,  B.  W.  Foster,  Lucius  Vail  and  S.  G.  Dean,  with  their 
wives.    Mr.  Dean  was  the  first  Sunday  school  superintendent, 


177 

serving  four  years,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  S.  F.  Spaulding 
who,  for  nineteen  years,  gave  his  best  services  to  the  school. 
Among  the  pastors  were:  G.  W.  Brown,  N.  T.  Allen,  William 
Watson,  D.  Ayers,  N.  G.  Clark,  G.  P.  Snedaker  and  C.  F.  W. 
Smith.  The  church  was  completed  and  dedicated  in  1867  under 
the  pastorate  of  J.  W.  Coe,  the  presiding  elder  being  W.  H. 
Hunter, 

The  Swedish  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  was  organized 
in  1856,  the  first  pastor  being  the  Rev.  T.  N.  Hasselquist.  In 
1860  the  society  commenced  building  a  church,  having  former- 
ly worshipped  in  private  houses  and  school  buildings.  This 
church  was  struck  by  lightning  and  burned  in  1875,  but  in 
the  same  year  the  present  tasteful  edifice  was  erected.  The 
Rev.  N.  Nordgren,  served  this  people  many  years. 

The  Swedish  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized 
in  1857  with  the  Rev.  V.  Witting  as  the  pastor.  The  keeping 
up  of  regular  services  and  of  the  Sunday  School  was  largely 
due  to  the  untiring  efforts  of  Oliver  Stream. 

The  Wataga  Christian  church,  costing  $2,000,  was  erected 
in  1875,  but  was  torn  down  in  1896  and  the  church  organiz- 
ation no  longer  exists. 

The  Wataga  Catholic  Church  was  erected  in  1877  at  a  cost 
of  $2,000.    The.  Rev.  P.  McGair  was  its  first  pastor. 

Wataga  lodge,  No.  291,  A.  F.  and  A.  M.,  was  instituted 
August  17,  1858. 

The  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star  was  organized  February  22, 
1888,  and  being  the  first  chapter  in  the  county  it  had  many 
members  from  the  surrounding  towns,  there  being  at  one  time 
seventy-four  names  on  the  roll.  Other  chapters  were  organ- 
ized in  every  town  from  which  this  drew  its  followers. 

Wataga  Lodge,  No.  509,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  was  organized  Janu- 
ary 10,  1876,  by  A.  W.  Berggren.  Its  first  officers  were :  W. 
N.  Thomas,  N.  G. ;  J.  E.  Thomas,  V.  G. ;  L.  C.  Whitcomb,  Secre- 
tary ;  P.  A.  Smith,  Treasurer.  Other  charter  members  were  P. 
A.  Smith  and  John  McConchie. 

Rebecca  Lodge,  No.  48  was  organized  October  20,  1891. 
The  first  officers  were:  John  Deming;  N.  G. ;  Mrs.  Nancy 
Deming,  C.  G. ;  Oliver  Stream,  Secretary. 

Wataga  Camp,  No.  3229,  Modem  Woodmen,  was  organized 
September  24,  1895,  with  eighteen  charter  members. 


178 

TRURO  TOWNSHIP 
By  David  Cation 

Next  to  Persifer,  this  is  the  roughest  township  in  Knox 
County.  Spoon  River  enters  it  in  Section  12  and  flows  out 
from  Section  31,  winding  throught  it  for  fifteen  or  sixteen 
miles  and  touching  sixteen  sections.  This  river  and  its 
branches,  which  liberally  water  Truro,  pass  through  timber 
land  which  formerly  extended  over  half  the  township. 
Of  late  years,  however,  almost  all  of  this  vast  timber  has 
been  gradually  disappearing,  the  land  on  which  it  stood 
having  been  converted  into  almost  treeless  pastures,  which 
have  proved  a  source  of  greater  profit.  North  of  Spoon  River, 
the  land  is  mostly  rolling,  on  the  south  stretches  a  broad  level, 
fertile  prairie.  About  one-sixth  of  the  township  is  underlaid 
with  a  good  quality  of  coal  which  with  the  timber  affords  an 
excellent  supply  of  fuel. 

The  first  settlement  was  made  on  Section  19,  in  1832,  by 
John  Dill.  The  first  birth  was  that  of  Andrew  Dill,  in  1833. 
During  that  year  Rev.  John  Cummings  performed  the  first 
marriage  ceremony,  uniting  Jake  Ryan  and  Miss  Stambaugh. 
In  1832,  within  Section  30,  Malon  Winans,  a  United  States 
mail  carrier,  was  drowned  while  attempting  to  swim  Spoon 
River  with  a  mail  bag  strapped  to  his  back.  This  was  the 
first  death.  Within  this  same  section,  in  1834,  John  Coleman 
started  a  ferry  across  Spoon  River,  at  a  point  which  was  long 
known  as  Coleman's  Ferry,  but  afterw^ards  came  to  be  called 
Trenton.  Here  the  first  postoffice  was  established  during  the 
same  year. 

On  the  northwest  quarter  of  Section  31,  the  first  white 
settlers  found  a  number  of  Indian  graves.  Logs  had  been 
split  into  halves  and  hollowed  out  for  coffins,  and  these  were 
placed  in  the  forks  of  trees,  where  they  rested,  with  their 
ghastly  human  skeletons  projecting  above  their  tops.  In 
1836,  pioneers  took  them  down  and  gave  them  "white  man's 
burial." 

In  1834,  Rev.  John  Cummings  preached  the  first  sermon 
at  the  home  of  Widow  Lambert,  on  Section  31.  The  first 
school  house  was  built  in  1848,  on  Section  33. 

Rensselaer  Johnson  was  the  first  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

April  5,  1853,  the  township  was  organized.  The  first 
election  of  officers  resulted  in  the  choice  of  the  following  per- 
sons: Augustus  Lapham,  Supervisor;  J.  P.  Cadwell,  Clerk; 
Benjamin  Sweat,  Assessor;  Levi  Seward,  Collector;  Thomas 
Ross,  Overseer  of  the  Poor;  Thomas  Crawford,  Luther  Rice 
and  Joseph  Wilder,  Highway  Commissioners;  Thomas   Ross 


179 

and  Joseph  Oberholtzer,  Justices  of  the  Peace. 

The  population  in  1860  was  seven  hundred  and  thirteen, 
in  1870,  eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine;  in  1880,  seven  hun- 
dred and  seventeen;  in  1890,  eight  hundred  and  sixty-five. 
For  present  population,  see  the  population  table  for  county. 

Truro  township  is  inhabited  by  prosperous  farmers.  The 
land  is  well  tilled,  and  dotting  the  pastures  are  herds  of  well- 
bred  hogs,  horses,  sheep  and  cattle.  The  farms  are  well  im- 
proved, and  the  people  contented  and  happy. 

The  population  is  composed  chiefly  of  American  born  citi- 
zens of  English,  Irish,  Scotch  and  Swedish  ancestry.  The 
hardy  pioneers  are  fast  passing  away,  but  they  have  left  ener- 
getic and  intelligent  descendants.  Although  thus  sprung  from 
various  stocks,  they  are  all  intensely  American  in  their  pa- 
triotism. Adorning  the  walls  of  their  homes  are  to  be  found 
not  only  the  portraits  of  the  heroes  of  their  Fatherland,  of 
whom  they  are  justly  proud,  but  also  those  of  Washington, 
Lincoln  and  other  eminent  Americans,  who  hold  no  second 
place  in  their  affections. 

Here  also  is  found  a  generous  religious  tolerance,  Protest- 
ant and  Catholic  joining  in  advancing  charitable  and  educa- 
tional enterprises.  In  such  perfect  assimilation  of  different 
nationalities,  and  in  such  broad  charity  in  the  matter  of  relig- 
ious faith  as  are  found  here,  lies  one  of  the  strongest  guaran- 
tees of  the  future  grandeur  and  perpetuity  of  our  country. 

Williamsfield. 

Until  1887,  Truro  was  without  a  railway.  In  May  of  that 
year  ground  was  broken  on  the  farm  of  Henry  German  in  Sec- 
tion 21  for  the  main  line  of  the  Santa  Fe  which  was  laid  across 
the  township,  and  on  April  24,  1888,  Williamsfield  was  laid 
out  by  E.  B.  Purcell,  on  Section  23.  Later,  Galesburg  capital- 
ists interested  themselves  in  the  project  and  promoted  it  with 
so  much  vigor  that  within  thirty-three  years  the  town  has 
become  one  of  the  most  prosperous  in  the  county,  and  now 
boasts  of  about  five  hundred  inhabitants.  There  is  a  graded 
school,  employing  from  three  to  four  teachers  since  the  com- 
pletion of  the  school  building  in  1890. 

A  Methodist  church  was  erected  early  in  1890,  under  the 
leadership  of  Rev.  John  Gunson,  and  dedicated  on  the  first 
day  of  June  of  that  year.  In  1906,  the  building  was  remodeled 
under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  Franklin  Rist  and  the  denomina- 
tion has  a  good  membership.  Two  years  later  the  Catholics 
erected  an  attractive  house  of  worship. 

The  Williamsfield  Times,  an  independent  weekly,  was 
established  in  1889.    Its  founder  was  C.  D.  Benfield.    In  Octo- 


180 

ber,  1890,  the  building  in  which  the  Times  was  located  was 
burned  and  Mr.  Benfield  lost  his  entire  outfit.  The  subscrip- 
tion list  of  the  paper  was  purchased  by  Momeny  and  Benson 
and  in  a  few  months  they  were  enabled  to  continue  the  public- 
ation. Later  they  dissolved  partnership  and  J.  M.  Momeny 
assumed  control  of  the  paper.  In  the  fall  of  1892  S.  E.  Bog- 
gess  leased  the  plant  from  Mr.  Momeny.  In  April,  1893,  it 
was  purchased  by  M.  Hugh  Irish  and  in  July,  1918,  it  passed 
into  the  hands  of  W.  G.  Johnson  the  present  owner. 

On  January  22,  1890,  L.  J.  Baird  and  David  Cation  opened 
a  private  bank  under  the  title  of  Bank  of  Williamsfield  and 
so  conducted  it  until  April,  1908,  when  they  with  Earl  T.  Main 
reorganized  the  Bank  under  a  State  Charter  in  the  name  of 
First  State  Bank  Company  with  a  capital  stock  of  $30,000.00 
with  L.  J.  Baird  as  first  president.  Earl  T.  Main  was  first 
cashier.  The  first  board  of  directors  was  L.  J.  Baird,  David 
Cation,  Earl  T.  Main,  G.  W.  Wallick,  J.  D.  Doubet,  Geo.  W. 
Elliott  and  H.  J.  Butts.  The  bank  has  had  a  steady  growth 
and  a  loyal  patronage  from  the  community.  In  addition  to  its 
semi-annual  dividends  paid  the  stockholders  the  bank  has 
added  $30,000  of  surplus  and  profits  to  its  capital.  It  has 
also  recently  installed  a  new  burglar  proof  safe  and  a  burglar 
proof  vault  that  is  said  to  be  second  to  none  in  the  county  at 
a  cost  of  $7,500.00.  The  present  officers  and  directors  are: 
David  Cation,  President;  Jay  Welsh,  Vice  President;  William 
Cation,  Cashier;  Miss  Doris  Pulver,  Asst.  Cashier,  and  Miss 
Marita  Smith,  Asst.  Cashier;  J.  J.  Nelson,  P.  A.  Sunwall,  Burt 
Hurlbutt  and  Richard  Murphy. 

Various  linies  of  mercantile  business  are  well  represented 
such  as  general  stores,  hardware  store,  meat  market,  lumber 
yards,  undertaking  establishment,  restaurant,  barber  shops, 
blacksmith  shop  and  dry  goods  and  millinery  stores,  physi- 
cians and  veterinaries.  It  has  also  a  grain  elevator  and  has 
always  been  a  great  center  for  the  shipment  of  gi'ain  and 
live  stock.  Recently  there  was  organized  a  Williamsfield  Live 
Stock  Shipping  Association  with  a  membership  of  about  one 
hundred.  Its  officers  and  directors  were  A.  L.  Doubet,  Presi- 
dent; A,  W.  Gale,  Vice  President,  B.  L.  Baird,  Sec.-Treas.; 
Taylor  B.  Johnston  and  Jas.  L.  Cation,  Directors,  and  L.  L. 
Nelson,  Manager.  Under  Mr.  Nelson's  leadership  more  than 
120  cars  the  last  year  have  been  sent  out  from  Williamsfield, 
amounting  in  value  to  $292,000.00.  This  excels  any  other 
point  in  the  county. 

In  September,  1897,  Williamsfield  suffered  a  disastrous 
fire  in  which  a  livery  barn,  two  general  stores,  hardware 
store,  two  blacksmith  shops,  lumber  yard,  paint  and  wall 
paper  store,  harness  shop,  two  doctor's  offices,  and  one  resi- 


181 

dence  were  all  swept  out  of  existence.  From  this  catastrophe 
the  village  soon  emerged  with  better  business  houses  and  bet- 
ter equipped  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  the  community  in  the 
several  kinds  of  business  represented. 

Again  in  Sept.  1920,  more  than  twenty  business  houses  in 
the  heart  of  the  business  district  were  swept  out  by  fire.  But 
the  populace  is  not  to  be  outdone  for  within  a  short  time  foun- 
dations were  laid  for  3  new  brick  buildings  and  other  brick 
buildings  are  being  contemplated. 

World's  War 

The  Hst  of  enlisted  men  in  the  army  was:  Glen  Cole, 
John  O'Brien,  Cecil  Kimler,  Roscoe  Gibson,  Dale  Stemple,  C. 
W.  German,  Clyde  Tucker,  Ernest  Hart,  Bert  Daniels,  Isidore 
Daub,  Fred  Shultz,  Grover  George,  Clyde  Huber,  Eldred 
Mackie,  Julius  Shaw,  Harrison  Cole,  Patsy  O'Hem,  Wiley 
Burch,  Sidney  Cook,  James  Mahar,  Albert  King,  Vance  Cham- 
bers, Frank  Stodgel,  Vergil  Dudley,  Raymond  Wall,  Lloyd 
Harmison,  Edward  Larsen,  Harley  Tucker,  Harry  Bennett, 
Homer  Larson,  Harry  L.  Gibson,  Arthur  Carrigan,  Edward  D. 
Parker,  Harley  Benjamin,  Michael  Phelan,  Clarence  Spencer, 
David  Tucker,  James  Larsen,  Harry  Harmison  and  James  H. 
German.  • 

Of  these  soldier  boys,  John  O'Brien  and  Grover  George 
were  gassed. 

C.  W.  German,  Lloyd  Harmison  and  Homer  Larson  nar- 
rowly escaped  with  their  lives  from  the  sinking  vessel, 
"Otranto,"  on  the  coast  of  Scotland. 

All  of  our  boys  returned  home.  Vance  Chambers  re- 
enlisted  and  returned  to  service  in  Germany  where  he  was 
shot  and  killed  while  on  duty. 

The  Neighborhood  Committee  through  whom  most  of  the 
war  activities  were  carried  forward  were  as  follows: 

Executive  Committee — G.  E.  Morgan,  Chairman;  M.  H. 
Irish,  Secretary;  J.  M.  Baird,  C.  H.  Pulver,  S.  R.  Tucker, 
David  Cation. 

District  Committeemen — Fred  Hurlbutt,  T.  Johnston, 
John  Mackie,  C.  D.  Rice,  A.  W.  Gales,  W.  — .  Huber,  E.  D. 
Johnston,  R.  W.  Morgan,  Jay  Welsh,  Geo.  King,  W.  S.  Potts, 
W.  H.  Machin,  G.  L.  Doubet,  L.  L.  Nelson,  P.  A.  Sunwall,  E.  S. 
Willard. 

Mrs.  Nellie  J.  Tucker,  Mrs.  Rhoda  Philbrook,  Mrs.  Celesta 
C.  Potts,  E.  S.  Moon,  C.  A.  Caldwell  and  C.  H.  Pulver  made  up 
the  registration  board  on  the  bond  subscriptions. 

While  very  many  did  much  to  assist  in  the  war  work,  it 
is  fitting  and  proper  that  special  mention  should  be  made  of 


182 

the  very  tedious,  very  exacting  and  responsible  work  done  by 
Miss  Marita  Smith  in  accounting  for  the  many  hundreds  of 
pieces  of  bonds  amounting  to  more  than  half  a  million  dollars. 

Truro  township  went  over  the  top  on  eveiy  quota  asked 
and  in  one  case  carried  off  the  German  helmet  for  being  the 
second  township  in  the  county  to  report. 

Subscribers  Totals 

First  Loan 1 $     6,000.00 

Second  Loan 118 42,300.00 

Third  Loan 262 46,000.00 

Fourth  Loan 282 54,150.00 

Victory  Loan   82 52,050.00 

War  Savings  Stamps 189 24,000.00 

Grand  Total $224,400.00 

Red  Cross  Drives 

First  drive   $1,079.43 

Second— Sale    1,880.35 

Third— Membership    397.00 

Fourth — Memberships    358.50 

Fifth- Membership 250.00 

$4,075.28 
Salvation  Army 126.40 

United  War  Workers  Campaign $2,180.00 

Grand  Total  $6,381.68 

The  Williamsfield  Branch  Red  Cross  Association  was  or- 
ganized Sunday  evening,  April  22,  1917,  as  follows: 

G.  E.  Morgan  was  elected  General  Chairman. 

Rev.  J.  W.  Pruen,  Secretary. 

David  Cation,  local  Treasurer. 

More  than  250  members  were  secured. 

Red  Cross  Shop 

Mrs.  Rev.  Pruen  was  the  first  Chainnan  and  afterwards 
resigned  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Cole  was  elected  and  carried  the  work 
through  to  the  end. 

Mrs.  Ida  Willard  had  charge  of  the  knitting  department. 

Mrs.  Nellie  Irish  had  charge  of  the  surgical  dressing/ 
department. 

Mrs.  Eva  Rice  had  charge  of  the  Belgium  Relief  depart- 
ment. 


183 

Mrs.  Lillie  Wesner,  Mrs.  Kate  Pulver  and  Mrs.  Nettie 
Caldwell  had  charge  of  the  cutting  department. 

Mrs.  Dr.  Cole,  Mrs.  Nettie  J.  Tucker  and  Mrs.  Eva  Rice, 
constituted  the  inspection  committee. 

In  all  these  War  Activities  of  Truro  Township  we  have 
mentioned  only  those  who  were  officially  connected,  but  there 
were  scores  of  privates,  many  of  whom  were  well  up  in  years, 
and  some  of  whom  were  very  young  as  well  as  the  intermed- 
iates, all  of  whose  names  we  dislike  to  omit,  but  desire  to  say 
that  the  loyal  assistance  they  gave  the  work  created  a  force 
that  no  enemy  could  successfully  combat. 

Community  High  School 

A  Community  High  School  was  organized  in  1916,  com- 
prising 561/4  sections  of  land  with  an  assessed  valuation  of 
$1,553,000.  The  first  Board  of  Education  was  as  follows: 
M.  H.  Irish,  President;  C.  H.  Pulver,  Clerk;  F.  J.  King,  Jay 
Welsh,  Loren  Trowbridge,  Otto  Grohs,  Mrs.  Nellie  J.  Tucker. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1920  ground  was  broken  for  a 
new  brick  Community  High  School  building  now  (1921)  near- 
ing  completion  at  a  cost  when  furnished  of  $75,000.00.  The 
building  will  accommodate  160  pupils  and  is  splendidly  located 
on  six  acres  of  land.  The  intention  is  to  add  Domestic  Science, 
Manual  Training  and  Agriculture  and  make  it  a  High  School 
equal  to  the  best.  W.  H.  Brown,  of  Abingdon,  is  the  con- 
tractor. 

The  present  Board  of  Education  consists  of:  C.  H.  Pul- 
ver, President;  Mrs.  Nellie  J.  Tucker,  Clerk;  Jay  Welsh,  Mrs. 
Minette  Baird,  G.  E.  Morgan,  Otto  Grohs,  F.  J.  King. 


184 

TOWN  OF  VICTORIA 
By  Mrs.  Mary  Fifield  Woolsey 

The  Town  of  Victoria  is  located  in  the  northeast  part  of 
Knox  County,  IlHnois.  It  is  a  political  unit  of  the  County  and 
comprises  the  same  territory  as  Township  Twelve  North, 
Range  Four  East.  The  larger  part  of  the  Village  of  Victoria 
lies  in,  and  along  the  west  line  of,  the  town  of  Victoria,  about 
two  miles  south  of  its  intersection  with  Walnut  Grove  and 
Lynn.  The  west  part  of  the  village  lies  in  the  Town  of  Copley. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  when  Knox  County  was  divided 
into  political  towns,  in  1850,  Copley  was  first  called  Prince 
Albert  and  Lynn  was  for  many  years  known  as  Fraker's 
Grove,  while  the  first  name  given  to  the  thirty-six  sections 
comprising  the  present  Town  of  Victoria  was  Worcester. 
However,  in  a  year  of  two,  the  official  name  became  Victoria, 
the  same  as  the  village,  and  has  so  remained  to  this  day. 

In  writing  of  the  coming  of  the  first  white  settlers,  the 
uncertain  facts  in  regard  to  the  Indians  can  be  told  but  briefly. 
And,  in  relating  these  matters  concerning  the  natives,  fact  and 
fiction  necessarily  blend.  Roving  bands  of  Indians  crossed  the 
township  even  within  the  memory  of  some  still  living  there, 
and  at  one  time  as  many  as  five  hundred  went  that  way  when 
they  moved  from  near  Peoria  across  into  Iowa.  But  the  recent 
Black  Hawk  War,  in  1832,  had  left  Knox  county  no  longer  In- 
dian country.  The  earliest  settlers  told  of  a  small  Indian  vil- 
lage, on  the  Southeast  Quarter  of  Section  Twenty,  near  what 
came  to  be  known  as  "Old  Salem"  and  it  was,  no  doubt,  occu- 
pied by  Indians  when  the  first  white  men  came.  Mr.  John  K. 
Robinson,  a  son  of  Moody  Robinson,  still  points  out  the  spring 
from  which  they  used  water  and  tells  of  the  Indian  relics  he  and 
his  father  had  found  there. 

The  first  to  settle  in  the  township  was  a  Mr.  Frazier,  Ed- 
ward Brown  and  John  Essex.  These  men  came,  at  least,  as 
early  as  1834.  Brown  built  his  cabin  a  half  mile  south  of  what 
is  now  the  Lundeen  place,  southeast  of  Etherley.  Mr.  Fraz- 
ier's  cabin  was  just  west  of  the  Robinson  place  on  Section 
Twenty  and  he  lived  there  for  five  or  ten  years.  John  Essex 
soon  moved  up  to  Fraker's  Grove.  Edward  Brown  remained 
for  some  time  and  Archibald  Robinson  moved  into  Brown's 
cabin  when  he  left.  Next  came  Moses  Robinson,  Moody  Rob- 
inson, Pasons  Alldredge,  Coonrod  Smith,  John  Smith,  William 
Overlander  and  John  Arnold,  The  Smiths  and  Overlanders 
came  from  Ohio,  where  they  had  first  come  from  Little  York, 
Pennsylvania.  The  Robinsons  and  Alldredges  came  from  Ten- 
nessee. These  came  in  1835.  All  built  permanent  homes,  and 
a  log-cabin  for  a  school  house,  and  called  it  Salem,  the  ''Old 


185 

Salem"  mentioned  above.  William  Overlander  settled  on  the 
"Overlander  place,"  John  Smith  where  the  Lundeen  place 
now  is,  the  Alldredges  where  Ulysses  Ives  now  owns,  Moses 
Robinson  on  the  next  next  farm  north,  Moody  Robinson  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  Ena  Mosher,  a  descendant  of  his,  and  the 
Arnolds  south  of  the  present  Salem  schoolhouse.  Then  came 
George  E.  Rejmolds,  Henry  Shurtliff,  Isaiah  BeiTy,  Silas 
Locke  and  their  families,  twenty-one  persons  in  all,  from  Bar- 
rington  and  nearby  points  in  New  Hampshire,  and  settled  on 
or  near  the  present  site  of  the  Village  of  Victoria.  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds lived  during  the  first  winter  in  a  cabin  in  Forman 
Grove,  northeast  of  Victoria.  This  cabin  had  been  started  by 
a  still  earlier  settler,  who  had  abandoned  it  through  fear  of 
the  Indians.  The  first  winter  was,  of  course,  full  of  hard- 
ships. Mr.  Alldredge  and  Moody  Robinson  were  away  from 
home,  for  18  days,  searching  for  a  little  corn  and  for  a  place 
to  get  it  ground  into  meal.  As  they  said,  they  were  hunting 
"a  grist."  But  the  next  summer  more  comfortable  cabins 
were  built  and  the  people  began  the  usual  strenuous  life  of 
early  pioneers,  beset  with  difficulties  but  determined  to  make 
of  this  new  country  the  comfortable  land  of  their  dreams. 

For  several  years,  the  children  of  these  New  Englanders 
went  through  the  timber,  more  than  three  miles,  to  "Old 
Salem"  to  school.  Captain  George  W.  Reynolds,  lately  de- 
ceased, was  then  a  school  boy  and  has  often  told  the  writer  of 
these  early  paths  to  learning.  Parts  of  the  stone  foundation 
and  the  old  fireplace  still  mark  the  place  where  the  boys  and 
girls  of  those  days  studied  the  "three  R's"  and  McGuffy's 
Spelling  Book,  and,  more  studiously,  evaded  the  watchful  eye 
of  their  teacher.  This  "Old  Salem"  is  located  about  a  mile 
northwest  of  the  site  of  the  present  Salem  school  house,  on 
the  Pasons  Alldredge  place.  This  was  also  used  as  the  first 
church  of  that  community  and  there  one  may  still  see  the 
graves  of  many  of  the  oldest  settlers.  Some  of  the  first 
teachers  were  Hannah  Olmsted,  Charlotte  Arnold,  Vatch  Met- 
calf,  Silas  Locke,  Henry  Shurtliff  and  Mrs.  Minard.  One  of 
her  pupils  tells  that  Mrs.  Minard  brought  her  three  small 
children,  including  a  wee  baby,  and  taught  the  school,  and  also 
cared  for  her  own  children  at  the  same  time;  there  was  a 
cradle  in  the  school-room  for  the  baby,  and  the  girls  helped 
take  care  of  it,  thus  taking  the  first  course  in  Domestic  Sci- 
ence ever  given  in  the  county.  And,  when  they  "stood  up  and 
spelled  down,"  the  baby  was  carried  back  and  forth  from  side 
to  side  as  the  girls  were  chosen. 

The  first  white  child  to  be  born  in  the  Township  was 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Moody  Robinson,  November  16th,  1836. 
She  became  the  wife  of  Manford  Mosher  and  is  still  remem- 
bered by  all  the  people  of  the  community.     The  first  death 


186 

was  that  of  Mrs.  Frazier  in  1837  and  the  first  marriage  was 
that  of  Peter  Sornberger  to  Phoebe  Wilber  in  1838. 

Captain  Allen  built  the  first  frame  house,  on  Section  Sev- 
enteen ;  it  was  always  known  as  the  "Old  Victoria  House."  It 
was  built  for  a  tavern  and  will  be  more  fully  described  below. 
The  early  conditions  were  naturally  characterized  by  their 
simplicity — log  cabins  in  the  woods,  fireplaces  and  chimneys 
made  of  stone,  all  chinked  together  with  mud.  These  earliest 
pioneers  stayed  close  to  the  wooded  lands  and  did  not  venture 
out  on  the  more  fertile  prairie,  because  they  needed  the  tim- 
ber for  shelter  and  fuel.  Each  family  took  care  of  nearly  all 
its  own  wants;  it  did  its  own  blacksmithing,  spinning,  etc. 
Threshing  was  done  with  flails  and  every  house  was  largely, 
a  law  unto  itself.  The  grinding  was  done  in  the  rudest  man- 
ner, by  rotating  a  round  flat  stone  above  another.  A  pair  of 
these  stones  can  be  seen  at  the  home  of  a  descendant  of  "Old 
Billy  McBride"  in  Lynn  Township,  and  were  once  the  property 
of  Michael  Fraker,  after  whom  that  community  was  called 
Fraker's  Grove.  The  first  grist  mill  of  any  importance  was 
built  by  Clark  Stanton  at  Rochester  on  Spoon  River,  (Elmore) 
in  Peoria  county,  and  the  first  saw  mill  by  Coonrod  Leek  at 
Centerville  on  Walnut  Creek.  The  folks  from  Victoria  would 
drive  down  to  Rochester  with  their  grain  and  sometimes  be 
compelled  to  wait  there  several  days  for  their  grist.  Much 
later,  in  about  1856,  Mons  Olson  and  a  Mr.  Renstead  built  a 
grist-mill  in  the  south  part  of  the  Village  of  Victoria  and  this 
was  long  a  blessing  to  the  community  and  a  mill  on  that  loca- 
tion is  still  within  the  memoiy  of  most  of  our  people.  The 
house  of  Frederick  Becker  is  now  about  where  this  old  mill 
stood.  Travel  was  usually  by  oxen  and  the  people  of  those 
days  would  not  believe  their  eyes  if  they  could  now  see  their 
descendants  dashing  madly  about  in  automobiles  and  farming 
with  tractors.  The  roads  followed  the  paths  of  least  resist- 
ance and  were  usually  on  the  old  Indian  trails.  Stone  for 
foundations  and  fireplaces  was  quarried,  in  many  cases,  from 
the  very  land  where  the  fann  buildings  were  built.  In  spite 
of  the  hardships  and  difficulties,  these  pioneers  had  many  a 
rollocking  good  time  at  their  log-rollings,  house-raisings,  corn- 
huskings,  quilting  parties  and  their  spelling  and  singing 
schools  to  say  nothing  of  hunting  deer  and  wolves. 

The  present  village  and,  later,  the  Town  of  Victoria,  was 
named  Victoria  after  the  Queen  of  England,  who  was  crowned 
in  1837.  Before  there  was  ever  any  village  on  its  present  site, 
Captain  Allen  had  started  the  "Old  Victoria  House"  and  Mil- 
ton Shurtliff,  who  owned  about  a  thousand  acres  of  land  east 
and  south  of  the  present  village  of  Victoria,  had  platted  a  vil- 
lage near  the  center  of  the  north  half  of  Section  Seventeen,  a 
little  more  than  a  mile  east  and  a  little  south  of  the  present 


187 

village.     The  survey  for  this  earlier  village,  planned  by  Mil- 
ton  Shurtliff,  was  made  August  30th,   1837,   by   George  A. 
Charles,  Knox  County  Surveyor,  and  a  record  of  same  can  be 
found  in  Vol.  4,  page  128,  Deed   Records  of  Knox  County. 
There  was  to  be  Public  Square,  Main  Street,  North  Street, 
South   Street,   Alton   Street   and   Shurtliff  Street,   and   there 
were  ten  blocks.     As  a  part  of  his  plan,  others  had  been  in- 
duced to  build   nearby   and   Captain  Allen's   tavern  was,   no 
doubt,  also  prompted  by  Milton  Shurtliff,  who  had  given  him 
an  agreement  for  a  deed.     Being  operated  by  Allen  and  on 
land  that  belonged,  in  a  way,  to  Shurtliff,  it  was  variously 
known  as  Allen's  Tavern,  Allen  &  Shurtliff's  Tavern,  Shurt- 
liff's  Tavern  and  the  "Old  Victoria  House."     Captain  Allen 
died   before  the   "Old   Victoria   House"  was   fully   completed 
and,  there  being  an  indebtedness  of  $200.00  in  favor  of  Milton 
Shurtliff,  he  caused  the  rights  of  "Aunt  Allen,"  as  Captain 
Allen's  wife  was  affectionately  called,  to  be  forfeited  to  him, 
"Aunt  Allen"  thereafter  lived  with  Dr.  John  Langdon  Fifield 
at  Rochester  until  her  death  in  1848.    The  Fifields  lived  in  the 
"Old  Victoria  House"  from  1848  to  1850.    Dr.  Fifield  has  told 
of  stopping  at  Captain  Allen's  Tavern  as  early  as  1840,  and 
sleeping  in  an   unfinished   attic,   on  the  floor,   with   sixteen 
other  men,  who,  like  himself,  had  been  travehng  that  way  and 
had  been  caught  in  a  severe  storm.    Near  at  hand  was  a  black- 
smith shop  and  a  large  barn  and  a  few  cabins.    The  house  of 
Brazail  White  stood  just  east  of  the  "Old  Victoria  House"  and 
was  later  moved  to  the  Charles  J.  Carlson  farm  where  it  can 
still  be  seen.    There  was  a  semi-official  postoffice  and  a  store 
in  the  tavern.    This  "Old  Victoria  House"  became  the  home  of 
"Uncle  Alex"  Sornberger  in  1850,  and  remained  such  until  his 
death,  he  having  lived  in  a  cabin  a  half  mile  south  of  there 
until  1850.    The  "Old  Victoria  House"  stood  a  few  feet  south- 
west of  the  house  now  occupied  by  Clifford  Sornberger  and 
the  old  doorstone    (6  ft.  by  4  ft.)    can  still  be  seen  on  the 
premises,  at  the  end  of  the  east  walk.     The  house  itself  was 
torn  down  in  1868.     In  Vol.  2  of  the  County  Commissioners 
Record  at  page  27,  made  during  the  March  Term  of  1838,  is  a 
petition  asking  for  a  road  to  be  marked,  running  from  about 
the  present  site  of  West  Jersey  to  the  center  of  Section  Thirty 
now  in  the  Town  of  West  Jersey,  thence  in  a  westerly  direct- 
tion  by  "the  nearest  and  best  route  to  Victoria  in  Township  12 
North,  Range  4  East."    The  Court  appointed  Wm.  Overlander, 
John  Brown  and  William  Webster   (West  Jersey)    "to  view, 
mark  and  locate  said  road."     And  on  page  81  of  this  Record 
appears  the  report  of  these  road-viewers  and  their  field  notes. 
They  described  the  road  as  beginning  at  the  center  of  Main 
Street  at  the  east  side  of  Victoria,  "situated  on  the  East  or.c- 
half  of  the  Northwest  Quarter  and  also  the  West  one-half  of 
the  Northeast  Quarter  of  Section  Seventeen,  Township  Twelve 


188 

North,  and  Four  East."  On  page  67  of  this  record  (in  1838) 
the  voting  place  for  the  "Walnut  Creek  District"  was  changed 
from  Centerville  to  "Shurtliff's  Tavern"  and  remained  there 
for  about  ten  years.  This  same  Record,  at  page  205,  shows 
that  new  voting  districts  were  formed  by  the  County  Com- 
missioners in  March  of  1839  and  what  are  now  Copley  and 
Victoria  and  the  part  of  Truro,  north  of  Spoon  River,  were  put 
together  in  the  "Victoria  District,"  the  election  still  to  be  held 
"at  the  House  of  Allen  &  Shurtliff  in  Victoria."  Again  in 
1841,  this  Record  (page  255)  shows  the  location  of  a  road 
from  about  the  present  site  of  Arkansas  (also  known  as  Truro 
and  "Four-Corners")  on  a  diagonal  line,  northwest,  "to  Vic- 
toria on  Section  17",  still  taking  no  notice  of  any  other  Vic- 
toria. This  road  has  now  been  put  largely  on  section  lines,  but 
still  shows  some  of  its  slant  lines  in  the  present  "timber  road" 
to  Williamsfield,  via  East  Truro.  It  ran  on  to  Peoria  on  the 
south  and  to  Andover  on  the  north.  Again,  in  Vol.  3  of  this 
Record  at  page  81,  is  the  description  of  a  road  from  "Eugene," 
southwest  of  what  is  now  Williamsfield,  "to  the  Public  Square 
of  the  Town  of  Victoria  just  north  of  the  center  of  Section 
Seventeen"  (May  18,  1842).  Isaiah  Berry  later  kept  this 
Shurtliff's  tavern  and  elections  were  held  there  until  about 
1848,  when  the  voting  place  was  moved  to  the  schoolhouse  in 
what  is  now  the  Village  of  Victoria.  So,  too,  the  first  survey 
Vol.  4  of  these  Commissioner's  Records,  at  page  257),  of  a 
road  showing  the  location  of  the  present  Village,  was  July 
13th,  1848,  being  from  "Trenton"  (south  of  Dahinda)  "to  Vic- 
toria, on  the  west  side  of  Sections  Seven  and  Eighteeen."  As 
late  as  1845,  a  road  was  surveyed  from  the  Mound  Farm,  just 
over  in  Copley  on  Section  Thirteen,  right  through  the  present 
Village  of  Victoria  to  the  Rock  Island  and  Peoria  Road  run- 
ning through  Shurtliff's  Victoria,  but  no  notice  was  yet  taken 
of  the  site  of  the  present  village.  So,  whenever  Victoria  is 
mentioned  in  the  public  records,  up  to  the  year  1848,  "Old  Vic- 
toria" is  meant,  and  for  ten  years  it  bid  fair  to  be  the  metro- 
polis of  what  even  later  (after  1850)  became  the  Town  (or 
Township)   of  Victoria. 

Meantime,  George  F.  Reynolds,  remembered  even  yet  as 
"Deacon  Reynolds,"  and  his  neighbors,  up  on  the  west  line  of 
the  township,  were  not  willing  to  let  the  village  grow  up 
around  the  "Old  Victoria  House,"  without  doing  their  utmost 
to  bring  it  to  their  own  land.  Mr.  Reynolds  had  built  a  double 
log  cabin  near  the  west  side  of  what  later  became  the  east 
village  park,  and  his  hospitality  made  his  hostelry  the  stop- 
ping place  of  many  a  traveler.  The  stage  line  from  Chicago 
to  Burlington  now  passed  the  Reynolds  hostelrys  and  aided  in 
bringing  the  village  to  the  new  site.  Two  large  frame  houses 
were  moved  to  Victoria  on  sleds,  with  oxen,  from  Centerville, 


189 

which  was  situated  just  over  the  town  line,  in  Lynn.  One  was 
owned  by  Dr.  John  W.  Spaulding  and  was  used  as  his  home 
and  office,  in  Victoria,  and  is  now  known  as  Carlson's  shoe 
store ;  the  other  was  owned  by  Alex  Albro,  a  great  uncle  of  the 
wife  of  Judge  George  W.  Thompson,  and  this  house  is  now 
known  as  the  Youngs  house.  A  room  in  the  Albro  house  was 
used  temporarily,  for  school  purposes.  Both  of  these  houses 
are  still  in  good  repair.  Mr.  Reynolds  deeded  off  lots  and  did  all 
he  could  to  "steal  the  town"  from  Milton  Shurtliff,  who  lived 
in  Tazewell  county.  Our  county  records  show  a  deed  to  Jonas 
J.  Hedstrom  in  1843,  five  acres  at  $3.00  per  acre,  and  deeds  to 
John  Becker,  two  acres  at  $5.00  per  acre.  Mr.  Hedstrom  had 
the  first  blacksmith  shop  and  Mr.  Becker  had  the  first  general 
store.  Later  "Dick"  Whiting  and  Norton  Kelsey  started  some 
competition  for  Mr.  Becker  in  the  Albro  house.  Joseph  Freed 
bought  a  lot  in  the  east  part  of  the  village  and  built  the  house 
where  Gus  Stout  now  lives  and  there  he  conducted  a  shoeshop 
for  many  years.  The  lot  just  east  was  purchased  by  John  L 
Knapp,  a  carpenter  and  cabinet  maker,  and  he  built  the  house 
that  stood  there  until  about  five  years  ago.  In  1849,  the  Vill- 
age of  Victoria  was  platted,  by  John  Becker,  John  W.  Spauld- 
ing, George  F.  Reynolds,  Jonas  J.  Hedstrom,  William  L.  Shurt- 
liff, Joseph  Freed  and  John  L  Knapp,  as  proprietors,  and  the 
question  as  to  where  the  village  was  to  be  was  finally  decided. 
However,  the  Village  of  Victoria  was  not  incorporated  until 
as  late  as  1886,  with  Charles  S.  Robinson,  mentioned  above,  as 
President,  and  Wm.  McKendree  Woolsey,  R.  B.  Hodgeman, 
Geo.  Luther  Hedstrom,  Charles  S.  Clark  and  William  Aten,  as 
trustees.  The  village  has  never  voted  "wet"  and  is  proud  of 
the  fact  that  it  has  never  had  saloons.  Dr.  Spaulding,  the 
Whitings,  the  Beckers,  the  Copleys,  Dr.  Fifield,  Jonas  J. 
Hedstrom,  George  F.  Reynolds,  the  Tabors,  and  the  Olmsteds 
were  among  the  early  chief  promoters  of  the  schools  and  other 
helpful  institutions  of  the  village.  Still  others  of  the  early 
families  were  leaders  in  organizing  the  first  churches  in  the 
village  and  these  will  be  mentioned  below  in  a  paragraph  rela- 
tive to  the  churches.  George  Sornberger  should  be  mentioned 
among  the  early  pioneers.  He  was  a  Revolutionery  soldier 
and  members  of  his  family  have  had  a  large  part  in  the  life  of 
the  community.  Three  sons,  Alex,  Peter  and  Anson,  and  sev- 
en daughters  settled  in  and  near  the  village.  His  descendants 
number  over  three  hundred  and  many  still  reside  there  and 
are  among  the  best  citizens. 

As  related  above,  the  first  schoolhouse  was  at  "Old  Sa- 
lem," but  in  a  few  years  the  settlers  up  on  the  site  of  what 
was  later  the  Village  of  Victoria  began  to  plan  for  a  school  of 
their  own.  In  March,  1838,  the  County  Cimmissioners  ap- 
pointed George  F.  Reynolds,  William  Overlander  and  Archi- 


190 

bald  Robinson  as  school  trustees  for  Township  Twelve  North, 
Four  East.  The  earliest  known  local  record  of  school  mat- 
ters, there  in  Victoria,  dates  from  August,  1847,  the  time 
when  the  present  village  began  to  be  at  all  important.  There 
can  be  found  such  items  as  the  following  in  the  minute-book 
of  its  first  school  directors :  "At  a  meeting,  held  according  to 
law  for  the  puii^ose  of  locating  and  building  a  schoolhouse,  on 
the  31st  day  of  August,  1847,  John  I.  Knapp  elected  chairman, 
Dr.  J.  W.  Spaulding,  secretary.  Voted  that  the  lot  east  of 
William  Shurtliff's  house  be  purchased  for  $4.00,  containing 
one-half  acre.  Also  voted  to  buy  a  log  building  for  school  pur- 
poses." "Treasurer  of  Victoria  School  District  pay  ten  dol- 
lars on  school  house,  eighty  cents  for  interest  and  nine  and 
59-100  dollars  to  Mary  Ann  Stanley  on  schedule  March  29th, 
1848."  Signed  by  Isaiah  Berry  and  Hiram  Andrews,  School 
Directors.  "Sold  G.  F.  Reynolds  the  roof  of  the  old  school 
house  for  $4.00  which  paid  him  for  the  school  house  lot." 
Signed  by  J.  W.  Spaulding,  Treasurer.  This  was  at  the  time 
when  the  school  lot,  just  west  of  what  is  now  known  as  Geo. 
M.  Nelson's  residence  and  wagon  shop  was  purchased,  and 
there  was  where  the  children  of  the  Victoria  district  attended 
•school  for  about  forty-five  years.  Others  of  these  early 
teachers  in  the  district  were  Mary  Ann  Leighton,  Miss  Max- 
field,  Miss  Willmot,  Harriet  Foote,  Miss  Pratt,  Byron  Dorr, 
Nancy  Burt,  Electa  Strong,  Mary  Hauver,  Olivia  Martin  and 
many  others.  Salaries  averaged  around  $3.50  per  week  and 
"board  around."  During  the  early  part  of  this  period  a  so- 
called  "select-school"  was  also  held  in  the  basement  of  the 
Methodist  church  just  over  the  township  line,  in  Copley; 
among  the  teachers  of  the  "select-school"  were  "Young  & 
Raymond,"  Miss  Ellithorpe  (Arnold),  and  Miss  Julia  Wilber 
(Boardman).  In  about  1867  and  for  a  few  years  thereafter 
there  was  a  combination  of  the  two  districts  (Victoria  and  the 
"West  School,"  in  Copley),  and  the  higher  grades  and  a  few 
high-school  studies  were  taught  in  the  basement  of  the  Metho- 
dist church.  Mr.  Lewis  B.  Aiken,  Robert  Arnld,  Lizzie  Gordon 
(Robson),  Emily  Bristo  (Robinson)  and  L.  K.  Byers  were 
some  of  the  teachers  in  the  "graded"  school,  as  it  was  called. 
In  1852,  May  1st,  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  Victoria  School 
District,  for  the  purpose  of  levying  a  tax  to  build  a  new  frame 
school  house,  with  John  L.  Fifield,  chairman,  and  John  Becker, 
Secretary.  There  the  list  of  taxable  inhabitants  of  Victoria 
School  District  are  set  out  as  follows: 

Hiram  Andrews  Mons  Olson 

Anson  Sornberger  Walter  Britton 

Lewis  Bissell  Joseph  Freed 

Isaiah  Berry  John  T.  Smith 

Samuel  P.  Whiting  Charles  Reynolds 


191 

Norton  Kelsey  David  Tripp 

Elam  A.  Pease  John  Becker 

Sanford  Rodgers  Jonas  Hedstrom 

Josiah  D.  Bodley  Peter  Challman 

Alexander  Soraberger  Erick  Skogland 

John  L.  Fifield  Mathew  Challman 

George  F.  Reynolds  George  Challman 

Richard  H.  Whiting  Gustavus  Janson 

Theodore  D.  Case  John  I.  Knapp 

Needham  Rodgers  Jonas  Helstrum 

Thomas  Force  John  Spaulding 

William  Burgess  Albert  Arnold 

George  W.  Reynolds  George  Cadwell 

The  building  referred  to  above  was  later  known  as  the 
"big  room"  of  the  old  school  building,  vacated  in  about  1892, 
and  in  its  last  days  was  presided  over  by  A.  W.  Ryan,  M.  E. 
Barnes,  and  P.  C.  Hankins,  as  principals.  For  about  the  last 
twenty-seven  years,  school  has  been  held  in  a  four-room  frame 
school  house  on  the  north  side  of  the  village.  Lately,  the  Vic- 
toria school  has  become  a  consolidated  district  school,  merg- 
ing the  "West  School"  and  the  "North  School"  with  the  old 
Victoria  district.  The  other  district  schools  in  the  township 
are:  Union,  Sixteen,  Fairview,  Cravens,  Stump  Valley,  Cen- 
ter Prairie,  Salem  and  Etherley. 

The  Early  Roads 

The  early  roads  of  the  Town  and  community  were  very 
often  utterly  impassable.  The  prairies  were  full  of  bog  holes. 
Tiling  and  ditching  and  building  bridges  have  combined  to 
make  the  town  very  different  with  respect  to  the  roads  and 
now  hard  roads  are  being  advocated.  When  the  Albro  and 
Spaulding  houses  were  moved  from  Centei^alle,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  leave  them  on  the  open  prairie  until  the  roads  dried  up 
in  the  spring.  Even  the  road  from  the  village  to  the  nearby 
cemetery  was  impassable  for  weeks  at  a  time,  almost  within  a 
stone's  throw  from  the  houses  of  Joseph  Freed  and  John  I. 
Knapp.  Almost  everything  was  regulated  by  the  condition  of 
the  roads,  in  those  early  days.  A  map  of  the  roads  of  Knox 
county  as  they  were  in  1841  (back  part  Vol.  3,  Commrs.  Rec.) 
shows  important  roads  coming  together  at  Centerville  and 
many  at  Shurtliff's  Victoria,  but  only  one  or  two  passing 
through  the  present  Victoria.  The  roads  ran  at  all  angles, 
much  as  the  crow  flies,  and  the  map  referred  to  looks  like  a 
number  of  spider  webs  all  connected  with  each  other.  An  im- 
portant State  Road  ran  from  Enterprise  in  La  Salle  county 
to  Knoxville  and  was  the  regular  road  to  Chicago,  over  which 
the  produce  was  sometimes  taken  by  the  Victoria  farmers  to 
Chicago  itself.    This  road  missed  the  present  Village  of  Vic- 


192 

toria  nearly  two  miles  to  the  northeast.  Another  important 
State  Road  was  the  one  from  Peoria  to  Rock  Island  and  to 
Hennepin,  by  way  of  Andover ;  this  road  ran  through  Shurt- 
liff's  Victoria,  but  not  through  the  present  village.  A  part 
of  it  still  exists  where  the  road  runs  on  a  slant  from  the  Good- 
speed  to  the  Carlson  farm.  Still  another  important  road  was 
the  one  from  Henderson  to  Victoria  and  on  to  the  east.  This 
passed  through  both  the  old  and  the  new  Victoria.  When  the 
road  from  Burlington  to  Chicago  was  laid  out  to  pass  through 
the  present  site  of  the  village,  it  was  the  controlling  feature 
in  the  question  as  to  where  the  Village  should  be  and  it  was 
moved  to  the  west  line  of  the  town,  much  the  same  as  the  com- 
ing of  railroads  later  changed  the  location  of  other  villages. 
William  Overlander,  in  March  of  1838,  was  appointed  super- 
visor of  roads  in  the  Victoria  vicinity.  The  records  of  the 
county  show  that  he  was  allowed  the  munificent  sum  of  $10.00 
for  building  a  bridge  over  Walnut  Creek  near  Centerville.  At 
page  160  of  Vol.  2  of  the  County  Commrs.  Rec.  is  as  follows: 

"We,  Pasons  Aldredge  and  Barzilia  Shurtliff,  have 

viewed,  marked  and  located  a  road  by  blazing  the  trees  in  the 
timber  and  sticking  stakes  on  the  prairie  on  the  nearest  and 
best  route  commencing  about  80  rods  east  of  the  southeast 
comer,  Sec.  31,  in  Tp.  5  N.,  R.  5  E.,  thence  running  west  to 
the  H.  McClanihan  ford,  thence  to  Victoria  and  thence  to  the 
big  mound  west  of  Geo.  F.  Reynold's,  where  it  intersects  the 
State  Road,  heading  from  Enterprise  (in  La  Salle  Co.)  to 
Knoxville,  and  we  consider  said  road  to  be  of  public  utility  on 
account  of  being  the  nearest  and  best  route  to  Hennepin  and 

Chicago,  .     Dated,  February  27,  1839."     This  report 

was  approved  and  the  treasurer  of  the  county  was  ordered  to 
pay  each  of  the  road  viewers  $1.25  for  his  services.  Pasons 
Aldredge  and  Coonrod  Smith  had  much  to  do  with  the  open- 
ing of  roads  in  the  Town. 

Churches 

The  early  inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Victoria  were  more 
than  ordinarily  religious.  As  soon  as  Old  Salem  school  house 
was  built,  it  became  the  place  of  holding  divine  services.  Rev. 
Charles  Bostic  and  others  preached  there  and  in  the  various 
homes  and  a  Methodist  church  was  organized  by  them  there 
at  Old  Salem  in  1836,  and  they  afterwards  built  a  frame 
church  in  the  Village  of  Victoria,  just  over  the  line  in  Copley, 
in  1854.  The  first  church  building  to  be  erected  in  the  vil- 
lage was  built  in  1851,  by  the  Congregational  Society  which 
had  been  organized  April  30th,  1841.  The  meeting  to  or- 
ganize was  held  at  the  home  of  George  Foster.  He  and  his 
family,  Columbia  Dunn,  and  Henrietta  Olmsted  Gaines, 
George  F.  Reynolds  and  wife,  and  others  were  the  organizers. 


193 

The  Rev.  S.  G.  Wright  was  its  first  pastor  and  he  was 
followed  by  Rev.  Daniel  Todd,  Rev.  Wm.  Beardsley,  B.  F.  Ras- 
kins and  others.  Among  the  many  "supplies"  who  preached 
there  were  Jonathan  Blanchard,  president  of  Knox  College, 
and  Rev.  Jenny,  the  father  of  the  much  esteemed  church- 
visitor  of  the  Central  Congregational  Church  of  Galesburg. 
A  religious  class  for  Swedish  people  was  organized  December 
15th,  1846,  in  a  log  house  in  the  Village,  by  Rev.  Jonas  J. 
Hedstrom,  and,  in  1853,  the  Swedish  people  erected  the  second 
church  in  the  village,  over  in  the  Town  of  Copley.  It  is  the 
first  Swedish  Methodist  Church  in  the  world;  the  building  is 
still  standing,  and  being  used  by  the  same  society.  The  Cen- 
ter Prairie  Swedish  Church  is  a  branch  of  the  above  and 
was  built  in  1869.  The  third  church  building  was  erected  as 
related  above  by  the  Methodists  whose  organization  com- 
menced at  Old  Salem  in  1836.  It  was  a  two-story  frame  build- 
ing, the  upper  room  to  be  used  for  church  purposes  and  the 
lower  room  for  school  puiT)0ses.  The  building  was  constructed 
by  Sanford  Tabor,  as  contractor.  It  was  commenced  in  the 
fall  of  1854  and  in  September,  1855,  it  was  dedicated.  The 
upper  part  was  paid  for  by  the  Methodists  and  the  lower  part 
by  popular  subscription.  Some  of  the  pastors  the  writer  re- 
calls were  D.  A.  Falkenbury,  "Uncle  Billie"  Smith,  W.  P. 
Graves,  U.  J.  Giddings,  Jacob  Mathews,  J.  D.  Smith  and  many 
others.  The  old  church  building  was  sold  in  1909,  and  torn 
down.  A  new  brick  building  was  erected  in  its  place  and  dedi- 
cated June  5th,  1910,  the  fourth  church  building  to  be  built  in 
the  village.  Some  years  later  a  fine  new  parsonage  was 
erected. 

Mail  Delivery 

Mail  was  delivered  for  a  long  time  at  the  "Old  Victoria 
House"  and  Captain  Allen  and  Isaiah  Berry  took  care  of  the 
mail  in  an  unofficial  sort  of  a  way  .  But  George  F.  Reynolds 
was  the  first  postmaster  to  be  appointed  by  the  government, 
in  about  1848.  His  successors  in  order,  were  Isaiah  Berry, 
E.  A.  Pease,  Ephriam  Russell,  H.  K.  Olmsted,  Lew  Emery,  Lee 
Shannon,  Samuel  Jarvis,  Cass  Sornberger,  Samuel  Jarvis 
(again),  Ralph  B.  Woolsey,  Arthur  Van  Buren,  Grace  Van 
Buren  and  Miles  Sloan,  the  present  incumbent.  After  many 
migrations  the  office  is  now  located  in  a  good  brick  building 
constructed  for  the  purpose  by  J.  E.  Welin.  For  many  years, 
mail  came  to  Victoria,  by  the  lumbering  stage-coach  on  its 
way  from  Chicago  to  Burlington.  After  the  C.  B.  &.  Q.  R.  R. 
came  through,  a  "hack"  was  driven  from  Victoria  to  Altona 
and  return  every  day,  carrying  the  mail.  Some  of  those  who 
drove  this  mail-hack  were  John  I.  Knapp,  Henry  Olmsted, 
Seneca  Mosher,  Jacob  McGrew,  Joe  Moore,  John  Mahnesmith, 
and  Aaron  Olmsted.     After  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  came,  Centerville 


194 

was  for  the  time  a  sub-station  of  Victoria.  The  postoffice 
began  to  be  of  more  importance  in  1898  when  rural  service 
was  established  at  Victoria.  The  first  rural  service  estab- 
lished by  the  Department  anywhere  in  the  United  States  was 
authorized  as  effective  October  1st,  1896,  at  Charlestown, 
Halltown  and  Uvilla,  all  in  West  Virginia.  The  first  in  Illi- 
nois were  three  routes,  established  at  Auburn  on  December 
10th,  1896.  The  service  at  Victoria  was  established  June  1st, 
1898.  The  carriers,  John  Dale  and  Clark  Herrold,  have  been 
continuously  in  the  service  ever  since  the  date  of  its  inaugur- 
ation at  Victoria,  and  no  complaints  or  charges  of  irregularity 
have  ever  been  made  against  them.  In  1899,  the  Galesburg, 
Etherley  and  Eastern  R.  R.  was  extended  to  Victoria  and 
this  greatly  facilitates  the  mail  service,  giving  the  office  two 
mails  a  day. 

The  Political  Side 

Politically,  the  people  of  the  Town  of  Victoria  have  al- 
ways taken  an  active  interest  in  all  elections  from  President 
of  the  United  States  down  to  the  lowest  office.  It  was  not  or- 
ganized as  a  political  Town  until  1850  and  was  not  called  the 
Town  of  Victoria  until  about  1852.  Until  1849,  the  county 
was  the  smallest  political  unit  and  it  was  divided  into  such 
voting  precincts  as  the  three  County  Commissioners  chose  to 
make.  The  people  of  what  is  now  the  Town  of  Victoria  voted 
at  first  up  on  Walnut  Creek  in  the  "Fraker's  Grove  Precinct." 
In  Vol.  2  of  the  Commr's.  Record  at  page  11,  (Dec.  Term, 
1837),  appears  the  following:  "Coonrod  Leek  presented  a 
petition  from  sundry  citizens  of  Fraker's  Grove,  praying  for  a 
removal  of  the  place  of  holding  elections  to  the  house  of  Caleb 
B.  Harley,  living  on  the  N.  W.  M  Sec.  4,  Tp.  12  N.,  R.  4  E. 
Order  that  the  election  be  hereafter  held  at  the  house  of  said 
Harley,  in  said  Fraker's  Grove  Precinct,  until  otherwise  or- 
dered by  this  Court."  The  two  townships  of  Stark  county  in 
which  West  Jersey  and  Lafayette  are  now  situated  were  then 
in  Knox  county  and  on  page  27  of  the  above  Record  appears 
the  petition  of  sundry  citizens  of  12  N.,  5  E,  (West  Jersey), 
presented  by  Newton  Mathews,  a  resident  of  that  township, 
asking  for  a  road  to  be  laid  out  from  West  Jersey  to  Vic- 
toria. On  page  55  of  this  Record,  the  "Fraker's  Grove  Pre- 
cinct" was  divided  and  the  later  Towns  of  Copley,  Victoria, 
West  Jersey  and  the  south  tier  of  sections  of  the  next  town- 
ship north  were  constituted  a  Justices  and  Constables  Dis- 
trict, by  the  name  of  the  "Walnut  Creek  District."  (March 
Term,  1838).  It  was  also  "ordered  that  Henry  McClanihan, 
Silas  Locke  and  Barzel  Shurtliff  be  and  they  are  hereby  ap- 
pointed Judges  of  Election  for  Walnut  Creek  District"  page 
58).  About  this  time  the  voting  place  was  changed  to  the 
"Old  Victoria  House,"  as  related  above.     Peter  Van   Buren 


195 

was  for  many  terms  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Silas  Locke  was 
appointed,  by  the  County  Commissioners,  as  the  first  assessor 
for  what  are  now  Copley,  Walnut  Grove,  Victoria  and  Lynn. 
Then  came  a  new  districting  of  the  County  and  what  is  now 
the  Town  of  Victoria  was  grouped  with  Copley  and  that  part 
of  Truro  north  of  Spoon  River  as  related  above,  and  called 
the  "Victoria  District."  When  the  State  Legislature  passed 
the  law  adopting  "Township  Organization,"  George  C.  Lan- 
phere  became  the  County  Judge  in  place  of  the  Commission- 
er's Court  composed  formerly  of  the  three  County  Commis- 
sioners, and  a  Supervisor  was  to  be  elected  from  each  Town 
to  do  the  work  formerly  done  by  the  three  commissioners.  At 
the  December  Term  in  1849,  Judge  Lanphere  appointed  a 
committee  of  three,  of  whom  John  Arnold  of  Victoria  was 
one,  to  divide  the  County  into  Towns.  The  committee  de- 
cided to  let  each  congressional  township  be  a  political  Town 
and  issued  a  call  for  an  election  of  all  the  voters  in  each  town- 
ship to  determine  the  name  of  its  Town.  Township  12  north 
range  4  (Victoria)  chose  the  name  of  Worcester,  but  in  a 
couple  of  years  it  adopted  the  more  suitable  name  of  Victoria. 
The  first  Town  meeting  chose  George  F.  Reynolds  as  Moder- 
ator and  M.  D.  Minard  as  temporary  clerk.  The  election  re- 
sulted as  follows : 

John  L.  Jarnagin — Supervisor. 

J.  F.' Hubble— Town  Clerk. 

M.   D.   Minard — Assessor. 

Charles  Shurtliff— Collector. 

John  Smith,  Moses   Robinson — Justices   of  the  Peace. 

A.  B.  Codding,  Peter  Van  Buren,  Joe  W.  Moshier — Com- 
missioners of  Highways. 

Alex  Sornberger,  Seneca  Mashier — Overseers  of  Poor. 

From  the  date  of  this  first  election  the  records  of  the 
Town  are  readily  available  in  the  hands  of  the  Town  Clerk  and 
the  County  Clerk,  to  show  what  has  transpired  politically 
since  the  Town  of  Victoria  was  first  constituted.  Its  Super- 
visors, in  order,  are: 

J.  L.  Jarnagin  C.  P.  Sansbury 

M.  C.  Hubell  Alex  Ingles 

J.  L.  Jarnagin  C.  P.  Sansbury 

Thomas  Whiting  C.  S.  Clark 

Samuel  Coleman  John   McCrea 

J.  H.  Copley  Charles  Sayre 

Wash  Lynes  W.  B.  Elliott 

Henry  Vaughn  Jesse  Mcllravy 

M.  B.  Ogden  Will  Sandquist 

Henry  Vaughn  Frank  Peterson 
Homer  Gaines 


196 

The  Town  of  Victoria  has,  especially  on  Center  Prairie 
and  near  the  Village,  some  of  the  most  fertile  farm  lands  in 
the  county  or  anywhere.  Most  of  the  land  is  underlaid  with 
coal.  Some  of  the  unimproved  land  is  worth  as  high  as  $300 
per  acre  and  some  moderately  improved  land  has  sold  as  high 
as  $375  per  acre,  but  most  of  the  owners  will  not  put  any  price 
on  their  land.  The  railroad,  now  the  Galesburg  &  Great  East- 
ern, runs  from  Wataga  to  Galesburg,  and  is  owned  by  the  peo- 
ple who  do  not  seem  to  require  outside  capital  to  finance  their 
institutions.  There  are  many  new  brick  buildings  in  the  vill- 
age and  business  is  particularly  good  in  all  lines.  The  Town 
is,  and  may  well  be,  proud  of  its  history  and  of  the  substan- 
tial development  of  its  people. 

Respectfully  submitted,  this  1st  day  of  June,  1919. 

MARY  FIFIELD  WOOLSEY. 


197 

WALNUT  GROVE  TOWNSHIP 
By  Mrs.  Fannie  H.  Sheahan 

Walnut  Grove  Township  is  located  in  what  is  known  as 
the  "Military  Tract,"  a  section  of  the  state  selected  as  bounty 
land  for  soldiers,  because  of  its  fine  soil  and  undulating  surface. 
It  is  well  watered  by  Walnut  Creek  and  its  sixty-seven  tribu- 
taries and  is  a  Spoon  River  auxiliary.  It  soil  is  unsurpassed  in 
fertility  and  fine  farms  with  substantial  buildings  are  to  be 
found  everywhere  within  its  borders. 

The  township  derived  its  name  from  the  extensive  groves 
of  walnut  timber  which  formerly  grew  near  its  center  and  on 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  26.  These  two  groves  include 
all  its  timber  with  the  exception  of  a  small  tract  in  its  southern 
end.  An  attempt  was  made  toward  the  settlement  of  the  town- 
ship as  early  as  the  spring  of  1832  by  Messrs.  Jones  and  De- 
Hart  who  made  claims  and  built  a  cabin  on  Section  21  but 
became  alarmed  at  the  hostility  of  the  Indians  and  left  at 
the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  War  and  never  returned.  They 
had  pushed  away  out  on  the  frontier  and  become  accustomed 
to  roughing  it.  DeHart,  nevertheless  was  greatly  frightened 
one  day  when  no  danger  was  near.  They  had  broken  ten  acres 
of  prairie  land  in  Walnut  Grove  Township  on  what  was  after- 
ward the  farm  of  Amos  Ward.  While  DeHart  was  plowing 
with  a  yoke  of  oxen,  an  old  Indian  squaw  came  out  of  the 
woods  and  waved  a  red  blanket.  This,  he  surmised,  was  a 
signal  for  him  to  move  quickly  for  his  life.  Accordingly,  he 
started  immediately  leaving  his  oxen  in  the  furrow.  On  hear- 
ing it  was  only  a  scare,  he  returned  the  following  day  for  his 
team  and  effects ;  but  left  the  country  and  never  returned. 
Several  times  during  the  Black  Hawk  War  the  settlers  fled 
to  the  forts.  The  ruins  of  their  cabin  was  still  standing  in 
1838. 

In  1836,  John  Thompson,  the  first  permanent  settler, 
moved  here  from  Pennsylvania  with  his  wife  Catherine,  and 
settled  on  Section  16.  Mr.  Thompson  planted  the  first  crop,  a 
field  of  sod  corn,  in  1837,  fencing  it  in  with  the  first  rails 
split  in  the  township.  The  only  near  neighbors,  the  Thomp- 
sons had  were  a  band  of  some  thirty  Indians  who  camped 
for  a  short  time  near  Mr.  Thompson's  residence  which  was 
located  where  the  Kufus  Grade  School  now  stands.  The  near- 
est white  neighbors  were  at  Fraker's  Grove,  eleven  miles  dis- 
tant. Mr.  Thompson  and  Mr.  Capps,  two  of  the  first  settlers 
had  been  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812  and  the  father  of  Mr.  Allen 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  township,  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War. 

Elder  M.  Smith  of  the  Mormon  church  built  the  first  frame 


198 

house  in  1840  on  section  15  on  what  was  originally  called  the 
Snow  and  afterward  the  Wisegar\^er  farm.  In  1842  several 
hundred  of  the  Mormons  had  located  here  and  designed  build- 
ing a  temple  on  Section  15,  but  before  carrying  out  their  plans 
Joseph  Smith,  the  leader,  had  a  new  revelation  (caused  by  the 
hostility  of  the  settlers)  commanding  them  to  leave  here  and 
go  to  Nauvoo,  Hancock  county,  which  they  promptly  obeyed  at 
great  personal  sacrifice  to  many  of  them.  As  they  had  entered 
and  possessed  themselves  of  nearly  all  the  timber  land  and 
designed  building  up  a  community  of  their  own  faith,  the  other 
settlers  were  not  sorry  to  see  them  depart.  The  only  trace 
they  left  is  a  row  of  giant  cottonwood  trees  which  they  planted 
and  which  still  stand  in  the  center  of  the  road  east  of  the  village 
of  Altona. 

The  first  boy  born  in  the  township  was  John  Thompson, 
Jr.  The  first  girl,  Helen  Maria  Ward,  was  born  February  3, 
1839.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Amos  and  Maria  Ward  and 
married  A.  P.  Stephens,  died  in  Russell,  Kansas,  Januaiy  3, 
1912,  and  was  brought  here  for  burial.  After  Mr.  John  Thomp- 
son came  other  early  settlers,  Levi  Stephens,  Abram  Piatt, 
Simeon  L.  Collinson,  Amos  Ward.  Mr.  Ward  is  said  to  have 
made  the  first  wagon  tracks  between  Altona  and  Victoria  in 
1838.  In  1839  he  was  elected  the  first  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
The  first  couple  married  were  Austin  Frederick  and  Elizabeth 
Finney.  The  first  death  was  that  of  Mrs.  Hinsdale,  a  sister 
of  Amos  Ward,  who  died  in  August,  1838,  at  the  residence  of 
Abram  Piatt,  on  Section  15,  where  she  was  also  buried.  In 
1844  John  W.  Clarke  was  appointed  the  first  postmaster, 
succeeded  in  1845  by  S.  Ellis  and  he  by  Amos  Ward  in  1846  who 
then  held  the  office  for  a  long  term  of  years  when  it  was  much 
more  troublesome  than  remunerative.  A  little  drawer  in  a 
bookcase  served  as  a  deposit  for  all  the  mail  for  ten  years. 

The  first  school-house  was  built  on  the  southwest  quarter 
of  Section  16  in  1840  and  Miss  Robey  Tabor,  a  Quakeress  from 
Massachusetts  was  the  first  teacher.  She  married  afterward, 
moved  to  Henry  county  and  died  in  1896.  Another  early 
teacher  was  Eugene  L.  Gross  who  afterward  distinguished  him- 
self in  the  legislative  halls  of  the  state  at  Springfield.  His 
school  was  taught  in  a  small  log  building,  16x16,  built  about  the 
year  1841.  In  1899  there  were  eleven  schools  in  the  township, 
costing  ten  thousand  dollars.  Elder  Samuel  Shaw  organized 
the  first  church  (after  the  Mormons).  It  was  known  as  the 
Baptist  church  and  had  eight  members  with  a  place  of  wor- 
ship on  Walnut  Creek.  The  first  township  officers  elected 
April  5,  1853,  were  Amos  Ward,  Supervisor ;  A.  F.  Ward,  Clerk ; 
H.  L.  Sage,  Assessor;  Jas.  Livingstone,  Collector;  H.  L.  Collin- 
son, Daniel  Allen  and  C.  Capps,  Highway  Commissioners ;  Reu- 
ben Cochran,  Overseer  of  the  Poor;  Amos  Ward  and  David 


199 

Livingstone,  Justices  of  the  Peace.  The  population  of  Walnut 
Grove  in  1860  was  1,120 ;  1870  was  1,960 ;  1880  was  1,781 ;  1890 
was  1,350;  1900  was  1,280. 

Endured  Privations 

The  old  settlers  endured  many  hardships  and  the  present 
generation  would  be  very  uncomfortable  if  they  had  to  live  in 
the  old  log  houses  with  their  fireplaces,  very  few  of  which  re- 
main. One  was  standing  a  few  years  ago  on  the  H,  K.  Whit- 
ing farm  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Amenoff.  The  names  and  deeds 
of  the  old  settlers  who  endured  hardship  and  trials  in  a  new 
and  wild  country  to  lay  the  foundation  for  future  greatness  and 
make  a  more  beautiful  and  cultivated  country  and  their  memor- 
ies should  be  peipetuated  and  handed  down  to  posterity  so  that 
future  generations  should  know  and  appreciate  those  who  be- 
gan the  work  of  settling  and  changing  a  wild  unsettled  country 
as  Knox  once  was  to  what  it  is  now.  Without  a  road  or  guide 
the  pioneers  roamed  the  prairies  and  timber  with  their  slow 
but  faithful  oxen.  At  this  time  there  was  but  one  traveled  road 
in  the  county  running  from  Peoria  to  Galena,  through  Victoria 
and  Walnut  Grove  Townships,  known  as  the  Galena  Trail. 
Streams  were  forded,  hogs  butchered  and  frozen,  then  taken 
to  Rock  Island  or  Peoria,  some  taking  their  grain  and  hogs  to 
Chicago,  Jonathan  Gibbs  in  1842  receiving  47c  a  bushel  for 
his  wheat,  one  party  received  15c  a  bushel  for  wheat  and  were 
1114  days  making  the  trip.  They  received  $19.50  for  the  wheat, 
bought  three  barrels  of  salt  at  $1.50  a  barrel,  the  price  at  home 
being  $3.00.  In  the  winter  of  1841  Judge  Hanneman  drove 
1,300  head  of  hogs  from  Knoxville  to  Chicago  for  which  he 
had  paid  $2  a  hundred  pounds  net.  He  had  them  slaughtered 
and  packed  in  Chicago  and  shipped  to  New  York  and  Boston. 
In  this  transaction  he  lost  $5,000.  He  hired  sixteen  boys  to 
drive  them,  the  trip  consuming  sixteen  days.  At  that  time 
Chicago  was  a  small  town  situated  in  the  middle  of  miry 
swamps. 

In  1842  Jonathan  Gibbs  went  to  Peoria  to  sell  his  pork,  the 
highest  offer  was  ly^c  per  pound  for  dressed  hogs,  SV^c  cash 
or  4c  in  trade  for  green  hams  and  lard.  Over  a  fireplace  in 
Mr.  Gibbs'  cabin  sixteen  barrels  of  lard  were  tried  out  that 
fall.  Such  a  stupendous  job  of  work  would  scarcely  be  under- 
taken by  any  family  at  the  present  time.  Money  was  an  article 
little  known  and  seldom  seen  among  the  early  settlers,  nearly 
all  business  was  transacted  by  trading  or  barter.  Taxes  and 
postage  required  cash  and  often  letters  remained  a  long  time  in 
the  postoffice  for  want  of  twenty-five  cents.  The  mail  was 
carried  every  week  by  a  lone  horseman  with  a  mail  bag  or  if 
the  village  was  on  a  stage  route  the  old  stage  coach  would  make 
its  appearance  about  once  a  week  with  the  mail.     One  or  two 


200 

letters  a  month  was  considered  a  large  mail  nor  did  three 
cents  pay  the  postage.  It  took  twenty-five  cents  which  some- 
times took  five  or  six  weeks  to  earn,  fifty  dollars  being  consid- 
ered ample  compensation  for  one  year's  labor.  The  amount 
of  taxes  on  $1,100  worth  of  property  in  1836  was  $1,371/2- 

Bee  hunting  was  one  of  the  early  pastimes  of  the  settlers 
the  strained  honey  was  sent  in  barrels  to  St.  Louis  and  the 
price  37V2C  a  gallon.  The  first  crops  of  the  settlers,  however 
abundant,  gave  only  partial  relief,  there  being  no  mills  to  gi'ind 
the  grain.  Hence  the  necessity  of  grinding  by  hand  power  or 
grating.  A  grater  was  made  from  a  piece  of  tin  sometimes 
taken  from  an  old  worn  out  tin  bucket.  This  was  thickly  per- 
forated with  nail  holes  bent  into  a  semi-circular  form  and 
nailed,  rough  side  up,  to  a  board.  The  corn  was  taken  in  the 
ear  and  grated  before  it  was  quite  dry  and  hard. 

The  first  year  after  Mr.  Amos  Ward  arrived  in  the  county, 
he  took  a  bag  of  corn  on  his  horse  and  went  to  Andover  Mills. 
On  arriving  there  he  found  they  had  stopped  running  during 
the  dry  weather.  He  returned  home  and  the  following  day 
went  to  Centerville.  There  the  miller  was  grinding  a  little 
when  he  could  so  he  left  his  grist  and  in  a  few  days  returned 
for  it,  but  it  was  not  ground,  so  he  went  home  and  finally 
traveled  one  hundred  miles  back  and  forth  before  he  got  his 
bag  of  corn  ;in  the  meantime  grating  corn  on  the  primitive 
grater  described  and  making  the  meal  thus  obtained  into  batter 
cakes,  Johnny  cakes,  corn  dodgers,  and  pone,  which  was  a 
common  diet  at  that  time, 

A.  W.  Miller  came  to  the  county  in  a  pioneer  wagon, 
(prairie  schooner).  It  was  all  made  of  wood,  there  being  no 
iron  about  it.  The  wheels  were  about  ten  inches  thick  and  two 
and  a  half  feet  in  diameter.  The  wagon  was  quite  low.  These 
wheels  were  sawed  from  the  end  of  a  log  and  were  solid.  A 
plank  was  pinned  on  the  side  to  prevent  season  cracking.  The 
axles  were  about  six  inches  square  rounded  at  the  ends  for  a 
six  mch  hole  in  the  wheel.  Four  or  five  oxen  were  hitched 
to  a  wagon  and  it  was  slowly  dragged  over  the  prairie.  When 
in  use  it  would  be  heard  for  miles  squeaking  even  when  well 
greased  with  soft  soap.  One  load  of  wood  such  as  this  wagon 
was  capable  of  hauling  would  last  a  family  all  summer. 

Spinning  wool  and  flax  by  means  of  the  spinning  wheel 
was  one  of  the  common  household  duties.  The  loom  was  also 
necessary.  A  common  article  woven  on  the  loom  was  linsey 
woolsey,  the  chain  being  linen  and  the  filling  woolen.  This 
cloth  was  used  for  dresses  for  the  girls  and  their  mothers. 
Nearly  all  the  clothes  worn  by  the  men  were  homespun.  The 
cooking  was  done  in  large  kettles  hung  over  the  fire  suspended 
on  trammels  which  were  held  by  strong  poles.    A  long  handled 


201 

frying  pan  was  used  for  meat  which  was  furnished  in  abund- 
ance. Wild  game,  quail,  prairie  chicken,  and  turkey,  deer  and 
bear  meat,  were  plentiful,  pork  and  poultry  were  soon  raised  in 
abundance.  The  pleasures  of  the  early  settlers  took  the  form 
of  amusements  such  as  the  "quilting  bee,"  "corn  husking," 
"apple  paring,"  and  in  timbered  sections  "log  rolling,"  and 
"house  raising,"  and  they  would  come  for  miles  around  to  en- 
joy these  gatherings.    Wolf  hunts  were  enjoyed  by  the  men. 

The  census  of  1870  gives  the  population  of  the  township 
1,962;  voters,  375.  Number  of  farms,  170;  dwellings,  393; 
horses,  1,042;  mules,  29;  sheep,  458;  hogs,  2,405;  bushels  of 
wheat,  17,607;  rye,  3,300;  corn,  210,220;  oats,  66,733. 

Census  of  1910 — Population,  1,209.  Township  officers, 
1918,  are:  Supervisor,  J.  A.  Johnson;  Town  Clerk,  S.  H.  John- 
son; Assessor,  N.  H.  Nelson;  Collector,  G.  N.  Larson;  Commis- 
sioner of  Highways,  C.  L.  Youngdahl ;  Justice  of  the  Peace  (re- 
signed) ;  Constable,  O.  W.  Peterson;  School  Trustees,  J.  P. 
Walgren,  Alfred  Nelson,  W.  C.  Stuckey ;  Library  Board,  C.  C. 
Sawyer;  Clerk,  A.  C.  Keener. 

Altona 

Coming  from  the  west,  the  traveler  sees  a  picturesque  lit- 
tle village,  its  streets  embowered  in  trees,  crowning  a  slight 
elevation  in  an  otherwise  level  tract  of  farming  land.  This 
town,  Altona,  is  situated  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy 
railroad  about  sixteen  miles  east  of  Galesburg.  Around  it  lies 
as  rich  a  farming  country  as  can  be  found  in  Illinois,  and  the 
village  itself  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  in  the  county,  hav- 
ing electric  lights,  cement  wailks,  a  public  library,  bank,  and 
all  modern  improvements. 

Altona  was  laid  out  and  platted  in  1854  by  John  Piatt  for 
the  heirs  of  John  Thompson.  Later  E.  B.  Main  and  Daniel  Al- 
len laid  out  an  addition,  just  northeast  of  the  first  location. 
The  place  was  then  called  La  Pier.  While  the  Central  Military 
Tract,  now  the  C,  B.  &  Q.  R.  R.  was  being  built  in  1853  many 
laborers  employed  on  the  road  came  and  camped  in  the  edge 
of  the  wood,  near  the  railroad  line.  To  supply  their  wants, 
Cyrus  Willard  and  J.  S.  Chambers  built  a  store,  18x36  feet  in 
size  near  the  center  of  Section  16  on  the  northeast  quarter 
of  that  section  of  land  then  owned  by  Daniel  Allen.  This  was 
the  first  store  building  erected  in  Altona,  and  was  the  pride 
of  the  community,  as  it  was  the  only  store  between  Galesburg 
and  Kewanee.  Samuel  P.  Whiting  built  the  second  store,  Niles 
&  Gay  later.  In  1854  Mr.  Erickson,  of  Moline,  built  a  flouring 
mill.  The  mill  continued  in  successful  operation  for  ten  years, 
Nels  P.  Peterson  and  Thos.  Taylor  operated  it  later.  Ambrose 
Foster  had  a  broom  factory.  There  were  several  wagon  makers, 


202 

Darius  Pierce  operated  a  cooperage,  later  Mr.  Tornquist  had 
a  carriage  factory.  None  of  them  employed  much  extra  help. 
In  1855  an  elevator  was  built.  Cline's  elevator  and  Tamblyn's 
were  burned.  The  farmers  now  own  an  elevator  on  the  site  of 
the  Tamblyn  elevator. 

The  first  hotel  was  built  back  of  Willard  &  Chambers 
store  (which  was  located  where  E.  F.  Swanson's  store  now 
stands)  was  operated  by  a  Mr.  Hahn  and  later  burned  down, 
never  rebuilt.  The  Walnut  Grove  Hotel  was  built  in  1854, 
operated  by  Needham  Rogers,  Matthew  Wiley  and  Mrs.  Acker- 
man  in  turn,  is  now  demolished  and  a  nice  modern  residence 
built  on  the  site  by  W.  C.  Stuckey  whose  father,  S.  S.  Stuckey 
came  here  in  1854  and  built  the  first  house  in  the  northeast 
part  of  the  township.  The  Altona  House,  facing  the  depot,  was 
constructed  by  Mrs.  McKie,  H.  G.  0.  Wales,  J.  A.  Negus,  J.  B. 
McCalmont  and  Mr.  Hopkins  were  successive  proprietors.  The 
Brown  Hotel  was  built  later  by  B.  H.  Brown  and  operated  by 
him,  later  by  G.  F.  Edwards,  Robert  Wilson  and  Mr.  Hopkins, 
is  now  a  private  residence  occupied  by  S.  M.  Whiting,  whose 
father  built  the  second  store  building  in  town.  He  was  later 
editor  of  the  Altona  Journal  from  1877  to  1884,  succeeded  by 
0.  B.  Kail.  The  Altona  Record  was  first  published  March  1, 
1888,  by  C.  F.  McDonough.  Later  editors  were  Sam  W.  West, 
Arthur  Austin  and  F.  C.  Krans,  its  present  proprietor,  who  is 
also  mayor  of  the  town. 

The  village  of  Altona  was  incorporated  under  special  char- 
ter in  1856  under  the  general  law  in  1862  and  again  in  1874. 

Altona  has  always  been  noted  for  the  excellence  of  its 
schools.  There  has  been  a  good  graded  school  here  since  1858. 
The  first  school  election  was  held  October  9,  1858,  at  which 
M.  B.  Waldo,  E.  B.  Main  and  Jas.  T.  Bliss  were  elected  directors, 
and  a  graded  school  established  with  a  primary,  intermediate, 
and  grammer  ccourse.  The  grammar  course  as  follows :  Prac- 
tical and  intellectual  arithmetic,  geography  and  map  drawing 
continued,  Sander's  New  Fifth  Reader,  Analysis  of  words ;  2. 
Single  entry  bookkeeping,  U.  S.  History,  English  Grammar, 
Analysis  and  Punctuation,  Elocution  and  Composition;  3, 
Harkness  first  and  second  Latin  book,  Caesar,  Cicero  and  Vir- 
gil, First  Greek  Book,  Xenophon's  Anabasis,  Higher  Arithme- 
tic, Algebra,  Geometry,  Surveying,  Rhetoric,  Natural  Philoso- 
phy, How  Plants  Grow,  Political  Economy  and  History.  The 
first  principal,  Wm.  A.  Jones,  a  Yale  graduate,  received  $600  a 
year ;  Nancy  Johnson,  Intermediate,  $240 ;  Miss  Marsden,  Pri- 
mary, $4.50  a  week.  A  new  school  building  and  location  was 
voted  for  at  an  election  held  May  2,  1863,  at  which  thirteen 
votes  were  cast,  O.  T.  Johnson  receiving  ten  for  director. 
August  15,  1864,  it  was  voted  to  sell  the  old  building  and  site 


203 

for  $1,500.  An  additional  $1,500  was  borrowed  of  Geo.  W. 
Ransom  for  building  purposes.  Matthew  Wiley  was  the  con- 
tractor and  the  High  School  building  was  completed  in  1864. 
The  new  Kufus  Grade  School  was  erected  in  its  place  and  occu- 
pied for  school  purposes  September,  1917,  Mrs.  Mary  I.  Riner 
Kufus  donating  $8,000  toward  its  erection.  It  was  completed 
and  dedicated  August  28,  1918,  Rev.  Brink,  M.  E.  minister;  S.  J. 
S.  Moore,  Presbyterian  minister;  A.  R.  Keeler,  Mayor  of  Al- 
tona;  Hon.  Francis  G.  Blair,  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction;  Walter  F.  Boyes,  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools;  W.  L.  Steele,  Galesburg,  City  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  and  Mrs.  Thos.  Sheahan,  (a  former  teacher  and  grad- 
uate of  the  old  school  and  daughter  of  Wm.  Hillerby,  an  old 
settler,)  being  on  the  program.  A  short  time  before,  in  1916, 
the  Walnut  Grove  Township  High  School  in  the  north  part  of 
town  had  been  dedicated  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  Judge 
J.  D.  Welch,  Co.  Supt.  Boyes  of  Galesburg  and  State  Supt.  of 
Public  Instruction  Francis  G.  Blair  were  speakers  on  the  pro- 
gram. Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  M.  McKie  donated  a  fine  new  piano  for 
the  use  of  the  school  and  handsomely  furnished  a  rest  room  for 
the  teachers. 

The  Ransom  Public  Library  was  erected  and  dedicated 
March  28,  1890.  Hon.  E.  A.  Bancroft  of  Galesburg  and  Dr. 
G.  S.  Chalmers  were  speakers.  Geo.  W.  Ransom  left  his  entire 
estate,  some  $8,000,  (with  the  exception  of  a  bequest  to  the 
Masons  and  Walnut  Grove  cemetery),  to  establish  a  Public 
LibraiT  in  the  town,  if  the  township  would  built  a  suitable 
building. 

The  Churches 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was  organized  in  August, 
1853,  with  a  membership  of  thirteen,  under  charge  of  Rev. 
Jas.  Quimby.  In  1857  a  church  was  erected  and  later  a  par- 
sonage, the  two  costing  $5,000.  The  church  has  been  remod- 
eled and  rededicated  twice.  Rev.  Brink  is  the  present  pastor, 
members  128.  The  Congregational  church  was  founded  Feb. 
21,  1857,  with  nine  members  under  charge  of  Rev.  A.  Root.  A 
church  costing  $4,000  was  dedicated  November  9,  1866.  The 
present  members  worship  with  the  Presbyterians,  Geo.  A. 
Ward,  clerk.  Rev.  I.  N.  Candee,  D.  D.,  T.  S.  Vaill  and  J.  T.  Bliss 
organized  the  Presbyterian  church  (O.  S.)  April  25,  1857, 
there  being  twenty-one  members.  The  old  building  was  re- 
modeled and  burned,  a  new  brick  structure  was  erected  and 
dedicated  December  2,  1917,  members,  133.  The  formation  of 
the  Lutheran  church  took  place  in  1869,  the  congregation  erect- 
ed a  church  building  costing  $4,000  and  later  a  parsonage.  The 
first  pastor  was  Rev.  Philip  Direll.  The  denomination  has 
steadily  grown  in  numbers,  membership  at  present  about  350. 
The  Swedish  Baptist  Mission  was  opened  in  1876  by  J.  W. 


204 

Stromberg  but  only  holds  occasional  services  being  without  a 
regular  pastor. 

The  Banks 

The  first  bank  in  the  village  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  gen- 
eral mercantile  business  of  A,  P.  Johnson  &  Co.,  which  was 
startedin  1854.  Until  1890  when  Mr.  Johnson  left  the  place 
his  was  the  only  bank  in  Altona.  Then  the  Bank  of  Altona  in- 
corporated under  the  State  Banking  Law  was  organized  with 
A.  M.  Craig,  President;  C.  S.  Clarke,  Vice  President;  Geo. 
Craig,  Cashier;  J.  M.  McKie,  Assistant  Cashier.  In  January, 
1896,  J.  M.  McKie  was  elected  to  the  position  made  vacant  by 
Geo.  Craig's  death.  The  present  officers  are  J.  M.  McKie, 
President ;  C.  C.  Craig,  Vice  President ;  G.  N.  Larson,  Cashier, 
and  C.  E.  Eckstedt,  Assistant  Cashier.  The  capital  stock  is 
$50,000  and  surplus  $100,000. 

Fraternal  Life 

Among  the  societies  can  be  mentioned  the  Masonic,  the 
L  0.  0.  F.,  Maccabees,  Modern  Woodmen  of  America,  Eastern 
Stars,  Rebekahs,  Royal  Neighbors,  Altona-Oneida  Branch  of 
the  Free  Kindergarten  and  Red  Cross.  The  Masonic  Lodge 
was  organized  October  1,  1860,  and  now  owns  its  own  Masonic 
Hall,  a  gift  being  left  toward  its  purchase  by  Geo.  W.  Ransom. 
The  first  officers  were  Hiram  Hall,  W.  M. ;  A.  P.  Stephens,  S. 
W. ;  G.  D.  Slanker,  J.  W.;  J.  N.  Bush,  Sec;  J.  S.  Chambers, 
Treas. ;  B.  H.  Scott,  S.  D. ;  Geo.  McKown,  J.  D. ;  0  S.  Lawrence, 
T.  An  order  of  Eastern  Stars  was  organized  in  1892  with 
forty-six  members.  In  the  60's  a  lodge  of  Good  Templars  or 
W.  C.  T.  U.  was  organized  and  during  its  career  the  members 
demolished  a  saloon  which  stood  where  the  garage  is  now 
located.  I.  O.  0.  F.,  No.  511,  was  organized  Oct.  14,  1873, 
charter  members,  Matthew  Wiley,  P.  G. ;  John  A.  Stuckey, 
Edward  Nelson,  Richard  J.  Burneson,  Harry  E.  Wheeler,  Jas. 
A.  Griffith,  G.  A.  Hall.  M.  W.  A.  Camp,  3737,  organized  April 
3,  1896,  charter  members,  Alfred  Anderson,  Carl  Elion,  Nels 
H.  Nelson,  Harry  Austin,  W.  B.  Elliott,  E.  W.  Norene,  August 
Bowman,  P.  Englund,  F.  Parker,  G.  L.  Brown,  G.  Harling,  0. 
W.  Peterson,  H.  S.  Brown,  G.  Johnson,  R.  C.  Sellon,  Thos.  Shea- 
han,  S.  B.  Brown,  Frank  Krans,  A.  Swanson,  S.  L.  Collinson, 
Wm.  Lady,  W.  H.  Van  Scoyk,  J.  H.  Cummings,  Nels  Lundahl, 
H.  L.  Weaver,  Wm.  Doak,  and  Alf  Nelson.  K.  O.  T.  M.  organ- 
ized August  14,  1894,  charter  members  G.  C.  Ecklev,  C.  W. 
Miller,  Arthur  Shade,  C.  Gates,  A.  C.  Peterson,  G.  W.  Pierce, 
Reuben  Cox,  C.  A.  Clifford,  J.  S.  Swanson,  C.  A.  Ackerman, 
Ben  Davenport,  W.  B.  Gray. 

Of  the  old  settlers  verj^  few  are  left  (none  of  1850) .  B.  H. 
Scott,  A.  J.  Anderson,  Mrs.  L.  B.  Cummings,  Mrs.  R.  C.  Stuc- 
key still  reside  here.  D.  Pierce,  Knoxville;  Mrs.  Helen  Lind- 
wall,  California;  Ed  Wales,  Colorado,  and  Mrs.  Tamblyn,  Ne- 


205 
braska  are  some  of  the  pioneers  still  living. 

Fires  and  Floods 

Disastrous  fires  have  occurred  at  various  times.  B.  H. 
Scott's  store  and  the  buildings  south  of  it  having  been  de- 
stroyed by  fire  three  different  times.  January  2,  1899,  the 
main  street  was  completely  wiped  out  but  was  replaced  the 
next  year  by  the  substantial  brick  buildings  which  are  now 
there,  two  of  which  were  erected  by  Judge  A.  M.  Craig  and 
two  by  John  McMaster.  In  1900  the  electric  light  plant  and 
Tornquist  carriage  factory  was  burned,  electric  light  plant 
rebuilt. 

Several  floods  have  caused  Walnut  Creek  to  go  on  a  ram- 
page. One,  June  25,  1898,  resulted  in  the  death  of  J.  F.  Hub- 
bell,  and  washed  out  the  large  railroad  bridge  and  arches  west 
of  town,  causing  erection  of  a  new  iron  road  bridge  and  a  sum- 
mer's work  by  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  R.  R.  when  new  foundations  were 
sunk  deeper  to  hold  the  large  new  arches.  Last  year  the  rail- 
road built  a  large  reservoir  at  their  pumphouse  east  of  town, 
800  feet  long,  150  feet  wide  and  15  feet  deep.  This  reservoir 
was  completed  July,  1918,  after  eight  month's  work.  A  fine 
place  for  a  factory  location.  August,  1907,  a  disastrous  hail- 
storm destroyed  the  crops  in  the  township,  a  strip  six  miles 
wide  and  fifty  long  being  devastated.  The  year  1859  is  noted  as 
having  a  frost  eveiy  month  in  the  year,  was  also  very  wet. 
The  winter  of  the  deep  snow  was  1830.  Cold  winds,  dark 
skies,  and  gusty  winds  made  the  days  preceding  Christmas  of 
1830  dismal,  streams  were  swollen  and  snow  fell  in  big  wet 
flakes,  later  the  weather  grew  bitterly  cold  and  a  wind  of 
huiTicane  force  whipped  snow  hard  as  sand  into  the  faces  of 
men  and  beast  and  piled  it  in  drifts  many  feet  deep  covering 
all  fences  and  cabins.  Scores  of  men  perished  on  the  prairies 
and  many  of  the  bodies  were  not  found  until  spring  had  melted 
away  the  snow.  For  sixty  days  there  was  no  sun.  Snow  four 
feeet  deep  on  the  level,  lasted  until  late  in  spring.  In  1891 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  snow  and  roads  could  not  be  used 
until  shoveled  as  they  filled  up  with  every  fresh  storai.  Snow 
still  remained  in  fence  corners  in  June.  1917  was  another 
snowy  year  with  bitter  cold  weather,  drifts  eighteen  feet  deep 
in  the  railroad  cuts,  trains  stalled  from  Friday  until  Sunday, 
January  17,  1918,  between  Galva  and  Kewanee.  Each  new 
snowstorm  filled  the  roads  from  fence  to  fence,  making  roads 
impassable  even  at  this  late  day ;  so  the  days  passed  shoveling 
coal  and  snow  but  no  such  hardships  as  the  pioneers  endured 
in  that  winter  of  1830  when  the  domestic  and  wild  animals 
and  game  perished  by  the  thousand,  and  the  settlers  them- 
selves by  the  score. 

The  population  of  Altona  in  1870  was  902 ;  1880,  806 ;  1890, 
654;  1900,  633,  and  1910,  528. 


206 


INDIAN  TRAILS 


The  following  map,  prepared  by  Eva  Chapin  Maple,  of  Maquon, 
shows  the  old  Indian  Trails  of  this  county : 


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207 

THE  INDIANS 

In  the  foregoing  township  annals,  there  is  frequent  refer- 
ence to  the  Indians.  The  following  citations  are  here  used 
to  throw  further  light  on  the  tribes  that  once  lived  in  this 
county  and  their  methods  of  gaining  a  livelihood: 

According  to  Major  Thomas  McKee,  a  pioneer  resident 
of  the  county:  "The  Indians  most  frequently  seen  in  this  lo- 
cality were  Foxes,  Sacs,  Kickapoos  and  Pottawatomies.  They 
were  alike  in  many  particulars.  The  Kickapoos  and  Foxes 
were  often  in  the  vicinity  of  Henderson  Grove,  which  was  a 
favorite  sugar  camp.  They  were  as  kind  a  people  as  you  ever 
saw.  They  were  considerate.  For  instance  if  you  were  in 
a  wigwam  talking,  the  rest  would  keep  respectful  attention. 
They  did  not  interrupt  you.  They  made  their  children  act 
with  deference  in  the  presence  of  strangers.  They  did  not 
hunt  perhaps  as  extensively  as  some  other  tribes.  They 
lived  on  corn  and  beans,  on  berries  and  other  fruits  gathered 
in  the  woods,  while  a  favorite  dish  was  the  wild  potato  or 
penyon,  as  it  was  called.  This  they  found  in  the  bottom  lands. 
It  was  formerly  quite  abundant  but  of  late  I  have  not  noted  it. 
They  speared  and  caught  fish  and  now  and  then  secured  a 
deer.  The  squaws  did  the  work  and  it  was  not  until  they 
were  aroused  by  injustice  and  unkindness  that  they  became 
cruel  and  warlike.  The  Pottawatomies  retained  their  identity 
better  than  the  others. 

"The  language  of  these  Illinois  Indians  was  simple,  con- 
sisting of  but  few  words,  made  plain  by  the  most  significant 
of  gestures.  Their  names  were  long  and  full  of  vowels.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  words  used  by  the  Pottawatomies: 

Horse Nan-ka-toka-shaw  Cow Na-noose 

Dog  _ Co-co-sh  Hog Ne-moose 

Gun Pos-ka-soogan  Tomahawk Quimesockin 

Knife   Co-mone  Water   Bish 

Fire Sco-ti  Whiskey Sco-ti-o-pe 

Drink Tela-ma-cool  Food    Wau-a-net 

Mean Mean-net  White  men Che-mo-ko-man 

The  future Mon-a-to  Small Pe-tete 

Baby Pap-poose  Potato Pen-yon 

Nothing  left Cho-ca-co  You  are  a  liar Kiwa-lis-ki 

Pumpkin   Wam-pa-cum  Beans   Ko-Kees 

Corn   Ta-min  Melons Esh-kos-si-min 

Hominy Do-min-a-bo 

Major  McKee  was  one  of  those  who  organized  a  company 
and  served  at  the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  War. 

Eva  Chapin  Maple,  of  Maquon,  gives  in  Perry's  County 
History  a  map  of  the  Indian  trails  of  the  county. 


208 

About  Their  Villages 

The  following  facts  are  gleaned  from  a  paper  read  before 
the  Knox  County  Historical  Society  several  years  ago: 

As  to  the  Indian  inhabitants  of  Knox  county  probably  the 
largest  Indian  village  in  the  county  was  on  the  Spoon  river 
bottom,  near  the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Maquon.  At 
different  times  this  village  numbered  several  lodges  and  possi- 
bly several  hundred  inhabitants.  They  raised  corn  on  the 
second  bottom  and  for  many  years  after  they  were  driven 
from  this  country  they  returned  at  intervals  to  plant  and  raise 
their  crops.  It  was  also  the  custom  to  place  the  bodies  of 
their  dead  in  the  forks  and  tops  of  trees,  but  after  the  advent 
of  the  white  people  they  commenced  burying  them  in  the 
ground.  Another  village  was  at  the  mouth  of  Court  Creek  on 
Spoon  River  near  the  present  village  of  Dahinda.  Mr.  Morgan 
Reece,  who  came  there  in  the  30's,  relates  that  the  lodge  poles 
of  the  abandoned  village  were  still  standing  when  he  came 
there  and  a  few  families  of  Indians  lived  in  that  vicinity  on 
Sugar  Creek  for  many  years  afterwards.  The  latest  family  to 
live  in  that  section  had  their  wigwams  on  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  Section  14  of  Persifer  township  on  land  now  owned  by 
Mr.  William  Sargent. 

Another  Old  Village 

Another  old  village  was  situated  just  southeast  of  the 
present  village  of  Henderson  and  another  in  Lynn  township 
at  what  was  called  Fraker's  Grove.  Persifer  township  is  es- 
pecially rich  in  Indian  lore  and  traditions.  For  many  years 
the  inhabitants  of  that  township  have  dug  in  various  places 
for  treasure  that  is  supposed  to  have  been  buried  somewhere 
in  the  township  by  the  Indians.  One  legend  is  to  the  effect 
that  the  Indians  were  paid  a  large  sum  of  money  for  their  land 
and  that  they  quarreled  over  the  division  of  this  money  and 
finally  fought  for  it,  until,  like  the  fabled  Kilkenny  cats,  there 
was  none  left  who  knew  where  it  had  been  hidden,  but  this 
was  improbable.  Another  story  as  related  in  Chapman's  his- 
tory of  Knox  County  of  1878  was  as  follows:  "A  tribe  of 
Indians  settled  or  located  on  Court  Creek,  Persifer  township, 
whose  custom  it  was  to  make  sugar  from  the  maple  trees. 
They  used  brass  kettles  in  which  to  boil  the  sap.  It  seems  one 
spring,  after  they  had  made  considerable  sugar,  they  were 
compelled  to  leave.  Among  the  Indians  was  a  squaw  and  her 
son  called  'Bil."  This  woman  had  accumulated  great  wealth. 
Not  being  able  to  cany  all  her  money,  she  filled  one  of  her 
kettles  with  gold  and  silver  and  buried  it  on  the  bank  of  the 
creek.  She  was  afraid  of  the  whites ;  so  after  reaching  her 
destination  in  the  West  she  sent  her  son  back  after  her  money. 
Bill  made  extensive  searches  up  and  down  the  creek,  but  failed 


209 

to  find  it,  and  the  treasure  is  supposed  to  be  still  buried  some- 
where on  Court  creek.  On  the  Taylor  farm,  in  1841,  a  cellar 
was  being  dug,  when  at  a  depth  of  about  four  feet  three  bars 
of  copper  were  found.  These  had  been  forged  out  by  hand. 
A  well  was  sunk,  when  down  about  22  feet  the  remains  of  a 
camp-fire  were  found.  Charcoal  and  rubbish  were  discovered 
which  plainly  proved  that  at  one  time,  within  the  life  of  man 
here,  that  was  the  surface."  An  Indian  Doctor  visited  that 
vicinity  a  few  years  ago,  claiming  to  be  a  descendant  of  Black 
Hawk  and  pointed  out  many  places  to  the  inhabitants  of  Da- 
hinda  which  had  been  described  to  him  by  his  ancestors  who 
had  formerly  lived  there  and  in  such  a  way  that  those  who 
became  acquainted  with  him  were  impressed  with  the  truth 
of  his  representations. 

Claims  Made  for  Village 

Mr.  Morgan  Reece  who  collected  a  great  many  Indian 
relics  claims  that  the  village  at  the  mouth  of  Court  Creek 
was  a  village  of  the  Sacs  and  Fox  tribes,  and  that  Black  Hawk 
who  was  of  that  tribe  had  visited  that  locality.  Relics  have 
been  found  in  that  locality  that  were  different  from  any 
others  found  in  this  part  of  the  state,  but  were  similar  to  arti- 
cles used  by  the  Indians  of  the  Southern  states  and  on  exhibit 
at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition  of  1904  and  were  possibly  brought 
to  this  locality  after  being  captured  in  war  or  given  as  a  pres- 
ent by  some  Southern  tribe.  One  relic  was  made  from  a  black 
hard  stone.  It  was  about  3  inches  long  and  2  inches  wide  and 
nearly  an  inch  thick  at  the  broadest  part,  in  shape  like  the 
roof  of  a  cabin  with  a  hole  through  it  lengthwise  about  where 
the  ridge  pole  would  be.  This  was  picked  up  on  the  banks 
of  Court  Creek  many  years  ago. 

When  Avery  Dalton  first  came  to  the  county,  in  1830, 
there  was  a  Pottawatomie  village  at  what  is  now  Maquon  and 
near  the  present  bridge  across  the  Spoon  River,  they  also  had 
a  burying  ground  near  Maquon  and  large  settlements  up 
Spoon  River.  The  Indian  cemetery  was  just  east  of  Spoon 
River  and  about  on  the  present  right  of  way  of  the  Burling- 
ton railroad.  Until  1832  there  were  more  or  less  Indians  in 
what  is  known  as  Kickapoo  Grove  near  Elmwood.  All  of  the 
Indians  in  that  vicinity  were  of  the  Pottawatomie  tribe.  One 
of  their  chiefs  who  resided  at  Kickapoo  Grove  was  a  very  old 
man  at  that  time  and  was  known  as  Captain  Hill.  He  always 
wore  a  large  silver  cross  suspended  from  his  neck  by  a  buck- 
skin thong;  many  of  the  Indians  wore  silver  rings  in  their 
noses  and  heavy  ear-rings.  They  were  friendly  and  great 
beggars.  They  were  in  the  habit  of  going  to  Shabbona  Grove 
in  the  spring  to  raise  corn,  returning  in  August  and  Septem- 
ber.    Mr.  Dalton  enlisted  for  the  Black  Hawk  War  shortly 


210 

after  the  battle  of  Stillman's  Run  and  his  company  with 
others  formed  a  battalion  of  200  mounted  men  who  ranged 
over  Knox,  Warren  and  Henderson  counties  to  keep  back  the 
Indians  from  the  Rock  River  country.  During  the  time  they 
were  out  the  Indians  got  through  the  lines  but  once  and  on 
that  occasion  murdered  a  settler  in  Henderson  county.  The 
company  had  no  fights  with  the  Indians.  Most  of  the  mem- 
bers of  his  company  were  from  Fulton  county. 

Many  Other  Tales 

David  Dalton,  a  brother  of  Avery,  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Persifer  township  and  in  his  day  was  also  a  hunter 
and  Indian  fighter.  There  is  one  locality  in  the  county  which 
should  be  mentioned  and  a  thorough  examination  of  all  that 
pertains  to  the  earliest  explorations  of  the  state  might  throw 
some  light  upon  the  relics  that  have  been  found  there.  On 
the  northeast  quarter  of  Section  14,  in  Persifer  township, 
about  two  miles  north  and  west  from  the  mouth  of  Court 
Creek  where  the  latter  empties  into  Spoon  River,  is  a  place 
where  in  past  years  many  evidences  of  a  battle  between  large 
numbers  or  of  long  duration  have  been  found.  The  place  is 
on  the  bank  of  Sugar  Creek,  and  within  an  area  of  a  few 
acres  bullets  have  been  plowed  up  and  found  lying  on  the 
ground  by  handfuls.  Some  few  of  them  were  once  in  posses- 
sion of  farmers  who  reside  in  the  neighborhood  and  they 
were  of  the  large,  old-fashioned  kind,  such  as  were  used  in 
the  smooth-bore  Queen  Anne  muskets  of  two  centuries  ago. 

I  had  often  heard  of  this  so-called  old  battle  field  from 
those  who  lived  in  that  vicinity.  What  called  my  attention 
to  this  particular  locality  was  a  map  of  the  old  French  trails 
first  traversed  in  this  State.  In  looking  for  information  on 
the  subject  of  this  articlest  I  had  occasion  to  consult  among 
other  books  the  very  excellent  book  written  by  Mr.  Randall 
Parrish  entitled  "Historic  Illinois."  In  this  book  is  a  map 
of  the  old  French  and  Indian  trails  and  one  of  them  leads  from 
the  bend  of  the  Illinois  river  where  it  forms  the  southwestern 
boundary  of  Bureau  county  and  about  where  the  principal 
town  of  the  Illinois  Indians  was  situated,  almost  in  a  straight 
line  to  a  point  on  the  Mississippi  opposite  the  mouth  of  the 
Des  Moines  River.  This  trail  entered  Knox  county  at  about 
the  north  line  of  Truro  township  and  traversed  the  county  in 
a  southwesterly  direction  passing  near  the  present  city  of 
Abingdon  and  through  what  are  now  Truro,  Persifer,  Orange 
and  Cedar  townships  and  crossed  Sugar  Creek  according  to 
the  map  at  the  exact  locality  of  this  battle  field  on  Section  14. 
No  other  relics  have  been  found  as  far  as  I  have  been  in- 
formed, but  the  large  number  of  bullets  would  amply  justify 
the  belief  that  a  considerable  battle  was  once  waged  at  this 


211 

place.     The  absence  of  other  evidences,  however,  is  not  sur- 
prising. 

Many  other  interesting  facts  about  the  Aborigines  can  be 
found  in  the  Eva  Chapin  Maple  sketch  in  Perry's  History  of 
Knox  county;  in  the  Major  McKee  interview  and  the  Judge  C. 
C.  Craig  paper,  on  file  in  the  Public  Library  in  Galesburg ;  and 
in  Chapman's  History  of  Knox  County.  Valuable  collections 
of  relics  were  made  by  Hon.  Rufus  Miles,  Robert  Mathews,  Dr. 
Bedford  and  others  and  many  of  these  indicate  a  high  degree 
of  skill  and  workmanship.  They  are  mute  evidence  of  the 
existence  here  once  of  another  people  who  had  to  give  way  to 
the  onward  advance  of  a  superior  race. 


212 

OUT  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 
By.  W.  B.  Elliott 

During  a  week  of  September  in  1919  the  Swedish  Metho- 
dist church  of  Center  Prairie  of  this  county  celebrated  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  dedication  of  its  edifice.  The  cele- 
bration was  very  well  attended  at  each  meeting  and  a  fine 
time  was  enjoyed  by  all.  The  former  ministers  who  were 
present  during  the  services  were  Rev.  Bendix  ,of  Chicago; 
Rev.  H.  W.  Willing,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Rev.  N.  W.  Bard,  of 
McKeesport,  Pa. ;  Rev.  A.  J.  Strandell,  of  Donovan ;  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  John  P.  Miller,  of  Chicago. 

One  of  the  features  was  the  following  interesting  histor- 
ical address  by  W.  B.  Elliott. 

When  the  first  people  came  to  Center  Prairie,  the  land 
was  densely  covered  with  prairie  grass  and  blue  stem  which 
grew  in  many  places  as  high  almost  as  a  man's  head  when  on 
a  horse.  This  had  been  going  on  for  ages  so  that  the  soil 
was  covered  and  filled  with  vegetable  matter  and  there  were 
no  ditches  and  small  water  courses  to  carry  off  the  water  as 
now  and  the  land  was  very  wet  and  untillable,  there  beinj; 
many  large  ponds  which  are  still  remembered  by  people  now 
living.  The  result  was  that  Center  Prairie  was  not  the  first 
part  of  Victoria  township  to  be  settled  up.  The  first  settlers 
who  came  settled  in  the  timber  surrounding  the  prairie  They 
did  this  far  many  reasons.  They  had  generally  come  from  the 
hilly  regions  of  New  England  states  and  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio  and  had  been  used  to  timber  as  wind  breaks. 
In  fact  on  the  prairie  where  the  sweep  of  the  wind  was  un- 
hindered with  the  buildings  that  they  were  able  to  put  up  in 
those  days,  man  and  beast  would  surely  have  frozen  to  death. 
The  writer  of  this  article  in  his  youth  had  the  experience  when 
sleeping  in  the  loft  of  a  log  house  of  awakening  in  the  morning 
with  a  thick  covering  of  snow  upon  the  bed  covers  and  which 
had  come  in  between  the  logs  where  the  chinks  had  fallen  out 
and  under  the  clapboards.  They  did  not  know  they  could 
dig  wells  here  in  those  days,  and  so  the  first  settlers  settled 
near  springs.  Neither  did  they  know  that  the  land  was  un- 
derlaid with  coal  and  so  they  burned  wood  and  had  to  be  near 
it,  for  the  fire-places  with  which  they  used  to  heat  their 
homes  and  cook  their  simple  food,  took  lots  of  fuel.  All  their 
building  material  must  be  near  at  hand  in  growing  timber. 
It  was  the  only  material  they  had  to  fence  with  also. 

The  Prairie  Fire 

It  was  very  dangerous  to  live  on  the  prairie  on  account  of 
the  frequent  prairie  fires.    I  very  well  remember  hearing  my 


213 

father  tell  how,  when  he  was  was  a  small  boy,  his  father, 
Thomas  Elliott,  tried  to  plow  around  the  house  and  stable  and 
also  burn  the  grass  for  a  distance  about  the  building  which 
was  known  as  back  firing.  When  he  had  seen  a  fire  in  the 
distance  he  told  how  the  onrush  of  the  wall  of  flame  was  so 
great  that  it  made  all  his  efforts  unavailing  and  jumped  to 
the  house  and  stable  so  that  grandfather  had  difficulty  in 
saving  even  his  family  and  beasts.  Being  burned  out  in  those 
days  was  no  funny  experience,  with  nothing  to  rebuild  with 
except  growing  trees,  and  with  no  neighbors  for  miles  around 
and  winter  coming  on,  for  these  terrible  fires  always  came 
near  winter  when  the  grass  had  died  and  was  dry.  On  this 
occasion  my  grandfather  cut  poles  and  built  two  pens,  one  in- 
side the  other  while  grandmother  gathered  leaves  and  filled 
the  space  between  them  and  in  this  they  lived  until  they  could 
erect  a  log  cabin. 

Were  Hardy  Pioneers 

The  early  settlers  who  thus  settled  in  the  timber  around 
Center  Prairie  and  who  later  themselves  or  their  descendants 
helped  to  make  Center  Prairie  what  it  is  were  hardy  pioneers, 
who  came  overland  with  their  families  in  wagons  from  the 
older  states.    I  shall  only  attempt  to  enumerate  a  few. 

Thomas  Elliott  first  settled  in  Persifer  township  in  1837 
where  the  writer's  father.  Burgess  Elliott,  was  born.  He 
moved  later  to  Victoria  township  near  the  present  home  of 
James  Cook  and  it  was  while  he  was  living  here  that  he  under- 
took and  got  out  and  delivered  on  the  ground  the  long  hewn 
timbers  for  the  Methodist  church  which  was  built  in  Victoria 
in  1854.  It  was  here  he  lived  when  he  had  a  contract  to  de- 
liver railroad  ties  between  Altona  and  Galva  for  the  C.  B.  and 
Q.  R.  R. 

The  Wilburs  settled  just  west  of  Delbert  Patty's  place  in 
the  thirty's  and  a  daughter,  Phoebe,  married  Peter  Sornber- 
ger  and  they  were  the  first  couple  married  in  Victoria  town- 
ship in  1838,  on  Easter  Sunday. 

Luther  Rice  settled  in  the  timber  about  two  miles  south 
from  the  Center  Prairie  church,  about  1842,  and  was  the  pro- 
genetor  of  a  numerous  family,  among  whom  was  Foster  Rice, 
who  built  a  log  house  where  Charley  Larson  now  lives  about 
1857,  and  Cyrus  Rice,  who  built  the  Robert  Young  house  in 
1857,  where  J.  L.  Huber  now  lives,  which  was  another  of  the 
first  frame  houses  on  Center  Prairie.  Alvin  Rice  still  owns  a 
part  of  his  grandfather's  land.  Perhaps  the  earliest  settler  on 
Center  Prairie  proper  was  Thomas  G.  Stuart,  who  patented 
the  N.  E.  Quarter  of  Section  27  in  1838,  which  old  patent  the 
writer  recently  saw  at  the  Exchange  Bank  at  Victoria. 


214 

Burned  To  Death 

He  died  about  1845  and  left  his  estate  by  will  to  his  wife, 
Catherine.  In  1850  Catherine  burned  a  brush  pile  near  the 
house  to  prepare  ground  to  sow  tobacco  seed  and  the  house 
caught  fire  and  Mrs.  Stuart  was  burned  until  she  died  trying 
to  save  money  in  the  house  and  was  buried  just  west  of  the 
creek  on  the  S.  E.  Quarter  of  the  old  homestead.  She  was  the 
mother  of  four  boys :  Tom,  who  kept  the  homestead ;  married 
Eliza  Gladfelter,  was  crippled  in  the  war,  died  at  the  old  home 
and  was  buried  in  Thomas'  grave  yard,  now  the  Center  Prairie 
Cemetery.  Elija,  Peter,  William  and  one  girl,  Katie,  who 
married  Van  Winkle  and  was  the  mother  of  Henry  Van  Win- 
kle, who  lived  for  many  years  north  of  Four  Corners. 

Perhaps  the  next  settler  in  line  who  settled  on  Center 
Prairie  was  Josiah  Patty  and  Beka  Patty  his  wife,  who  built 
a  log  house  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  Section  27,  where 
Phillip  Gibbs  now  lives,  he  having  purchased  the  land  from 
Richard  J.  Barret  in  1839.  Mr.  Gibbs  still  has  the  old  patent. 
Their  children  were  James,  William,  Sarah,  Nancy,  Robert, 
George  and  Josiah. 

John  Arnold,  a  blacksmith,  first  came  in  Knox  County 
and  Victoria  township  in  1836,  but  did  not  buy  the  old  Arnold 
place  where  Gust  Swanson  now  lives  until  1840.  He  did  black- 
smithing  there  until  1853,  when  he  moved  to  Victoria.  John 
Arnold  and  his  wife  had  ten  children.  In  fact  in  those  days 
the  hardy  pioneer  family  that  did  not  consist  of  ten  was 
the  exception  and  not  the  rule.  Thomas  Elliott  and  his  wife 
were  the  parents  of  fourteen  children. 

Perhaps  the  first  family  who  settled  on  the  flat  prairie  to 
the  north  was  that  of  Thomas  Durand,  for  whom  Jonas  Hed- 
strom,  the  tailor  and  preacher,  made  a  wedding  suit,  who 
owned  the  Conley  place  where  Martin  Gibbs  afterwards  set- 
tled in  1850,  and  the  two  eighty-acre  pieces  that  now  belong  to 
Alex  Ingles  and  Wm.  England.  This  land  he  bought  in  1841 
and  as  there  was  no  timber  near  he  fenced  the  half  section 
with  a  sod  fence,  the  remains  of  which  may  still  be  seen 
after  a  lapse  of  nearly  eighty  years.  He  was  the  grandfather 
of  John  McNaught  and  Mrs.  Cornelius  Stephenson  of  later 
times.  These  were  the  N.  W.  Quarter  Section  13  and  the  S.  E. 
Quarter  Section  12. 

Arrival  of  Swedes 

From  this  time  on  settlers  came  in  increasing  numbers. 
Especially  about  1850  the  Swedes  began  to  arrive  in  large 
numbers.  Among  the  early  settlers  were  J.  L.  Jarnagin,  1845; 
Dalgren,  1846;  Adolphus  Anderson,  1847,  and  John  Saline, 
1854  .  Then  came  in  1855  Peter  Anderson,  Lars  Ostrom,  John 
Chalman,  Sam  Coleman;  in  1857,  Peter  Skoglund,  step-father 


215 

to  Mrs.  Catherine  Larson,  who  is  still  with  us,  and  Sievert 
Larson,  to  be  quickly  followed  by  Noah  Swickard,  Lars  John- 
son, William  Hammerlund,  John  P.  Anderson,  father  of  Frank 
Anderson,  who  still  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  and  who 
shipped  the  first  car  load  of  frozen  beef  to  Chicago  and  the 
man  who  invented  the  refrigerator  cars  that  make  it  possible 
to  ship  fresh  meat  almost  all  over  the  world,  as  also  Eli  and 
Shid  Johnson,  Theodore  Hammond,  Joseph  Cain,  James 
Thomas,  Jonas  Olson  and  many  others. 

Poor  Facilities 

These  were  a  hardy  race  who  willingly  bore  the  hardships 
of  a  pioneer  life  and  bravely  withstood  the  rigorous  winters 
of  the  bleak  and  open  prairies  for  the  sake  of  founding  their 
new  homes  and  establishing  their  families  in  a  new  country. 
They  early  felt  the  need  of  education,  as  most  of  them  had  had 
very  limited  opportunities  for  securing  an  education,  so  that 
almost  with  their  coming  they  set  up  log  school  houses,  cov- 
ered with  clapboards  and  floored  with  puncheon,  which  was 
poles  split  and  the  split  side  hewn  and  laid  up  as  a  floor. 
There  was  a  fireplace  in  one  end  of  the  room  and  seats  around 
the  wall,  made  of  slabs  or  split  logs  with  four  sticks  in  for 
legs  upon  which  the  children  sat  with  their  feet  dangling 
from  the  floor  as  they  studied  the  old  Webster's  spelling  book, 
before  the  time  of  the  far-famed  McGuffey's  speller.  It  was 
in  such  an  institution  of  learning  that  Burgess  Elliott,  who 
was  born  in  Knox  county  in  1837,  as  well  as  others  of  that 
time,  secured  the  rudiments  of  an  education.  Not  long  after 
the  first  settlers  came  here.  Old  Salem,  which  was  started  in 
1836,  became  too  crowded  and  the  settlers  were  so  far  away 
that  they  built  a  small  square  house  on  the  corner  near  Tom 
Stuart's. 

William  Robinson,  a  cousin  of  John  K.  Robinson,  was  one 
of  the  early  teacher's  here.  This  school  house  soon  became 
too  small  and  it  was  proposed  to  build  a  new  one  and  there 
was  great  rivalry  as  to  where  it  should  be  built,  but  as  this 
was  near  where  Salem  school  now  is,  and  most  of  the  patrons 
lived  east  on  the  prairie,  it  was  finally  determined  to  put  it 
where  it  now  stands,  and  so  the  school  house  was  built  here 
in  1856.  The  sawed  lumber  was  hauled  overland  from  Rock 
Island  and  Peoria  and  the  framing  timber  was  got  out  by 
John  Saline  and  Charles  Appell.  John  Saline  did  the  the  build- 
ing of  it.  There  was  much  discussion  as  to  what  it  should  be 
called.  Some  wanted  to  call  it  Stuart's  Prairie  and  others 
Anderson's  Prairie,  but  a  compromise  was  made  and  it  was 
named  Center  Prairie  and  Center  Prairie  it  still  is.  The  first 
teacher  was  one  John  Fleeharty,  from  Galesburg,  who  taught 
in   1856.     The  next  winter,  John  Van   Buren,  a  brother  of 


216 

George  Van  Buren,  who  still  lives  in  Victoria,  taught,  and  'tis 
said  of  him  to  this  day  that  he  was  one  of  the  best  teachers 
Center  Prairie  ever  had.  The  next  year,  1858,  Miss  Mary 
Garrett,  a  daughter  of  old  Captain  Garrett,  who  later  became 
Mrs.  Mcllravy,  and  still  lives  in  Victoria,  taught  the  school,  as 
she  did  for  several  terms  thereafter.  She,  like  all  teachers  of 
that  day,  boarded  at  Thomas  Elliott's,  and  with  other  families 
who  had  children. 

The  Big  Storm 

She  was  staying  a  week  at  Moody  Robinson's  when  they 
had  the  big  storm.  May  14,  1858,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  af- 
ternoon. It  came  from  the  north  and  blew  Robinson's  new 
frame  house  off  the  foundation  and  lodged  it  against  the  well. 
It  lifted  the  roof  off  of  Foster  Rice's  house  and  blew  a  log  out 
over  the  door  so  that  Mrs.  Rice  had  to  put  a  blanket  over 
Foster,  who  was  holding  the  door  to  keep  him  from  drowning. 
It  blew  the  windows  out  of  Peter  Anderson's  house;  in  fact, 
the  double  log  house  of  Thomas  Elliott,  made  of  the  logs  of 
Old  Salem  school  house,  was  the  only  one  in  all  this  region 
that  withstood  the  storm  and  all  the  neighbors  stayed  that 
night  at  Thomas  Elliott's  as  it  was  the  only  dry  place  in  the 
neighborhood.  They  lay  about  two  deep  all  over  the  floor 
and  'tis  said  that  none  who  were  old  enough  to  remember 
ever  forgot  that  storm.  Mrs.  Robinson's  geese  were  blown 
away  till  she  never  found  them.  Wagons  were  picked  up  and 
carried  to  the  creek  and  washed  away.  Noah  Swickard's  new 
frame  house,  where  Alvira  Johnson  now  lives,  was  blown 
off  the  foundation,  and  at  Rochester  a  house  was  blown  in 
the  river  and  carried  away.  The  young  men  of  the  neighbor- 
hood went  the  next  day  to  Walnut  creek  and  swam  around  in 
the  tops  of  the  trees  among  the  limbs  which  were  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  from  the  ground  when  the  waters  receded. 

To  these  schools  came  the  boys  and  girls  that  were  to 
make  this  wilderness  a  teeming  land  of  plenty.  Such  men  as 
young  Arnold,  son  of  John  Arnold,  who  afterwards  became  a 
notable  lawyer  of  Peoria,  and  Jonas  Olson,  the  crippled  orphan 
boy  who  afterwards  became  Galva's  most  famous  attorney 
and  member  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  and  above  all  a  life- 
long friend  of  all  who  knew  him.  'Tis  said  that  although  he 
had  to  walk  two  miles  to  school  with  a  crutch,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  happy  pupils,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  industrious. 
It  is  handed  down  in  school  lore  that  he  was  a  mischievous 
boy  and  while  studying  the  old  M.  C.  Guffey's  spelling  book 
one  day  he  ran  onto  what  he  thought  was  a  bad  word  and 
spelled  ut  in  a  loud  whisper  so  that  the  whole  school  could 
hear,  d-a-m  dam,  n-a  na,  t-i-o-n  shun,  damnation,  and  he  still 
asserts  that  what  the  teacher,  Mary  Garrett  gave  him,  fitted 


217 

the  word.  At  these  school  houses  were  held  many  famous  ex- 
hibitions, singing  schools  and  spelling  schools.  Thomas  Stu- 
art who  was  said  to  be  a  very  poor  reader  was  the  most  fam- 
ous speller  of  all  this  region,  always  standing  up  till  all  the 
teachers  even  were  spelled  down. 

Center  of  Patriotism 

So  it  was  at  this  school  house  that  the  patriots  of  '61  met 
to  encourage  the  boys  to  enlist  in  their  country's  cause.  One 
of  the  most  famous  songs  and  one  that  always  aroused  the 
boys  to  the  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm  and  which  fitted  the 
great  leader,  Abraham  Lincoln,  was  "We  are  Coming,  Father 
Abraham,  Fifty  Thousand  Strong." 

Center  Prairie  and  the  immediate  neighborhood  did  not 
lack  any  in  patriotism,  as  evidenced  by  the  list  of  boys  who 
wore  the  blue.  Among  them  were  August  Carlson,  Robert 
Young,  Tom  Stuart,  Oliver  Willy,  Bill  Larson,  George  Elliott, 
George  Newberg,  Adolphus  Anderson,  John  P.  Anderson, 
Nehemiah  Coleman,  Aaron  Bothwell,  Sam  Cain,  Jimmy  Topp, 
Jonas  Empstrom,  Lee  Shannon,  Bill  Thomas,  Jonas  Johnson, 
John  Case,  James  Alderman,  John  Labar,  Noah  Swickard, 
James  Jamigan,  Spencer  Jarnagin,  John  P.  Peterson,  Ward 
Todd,  Wm.  Linday  and  Nat  White.  Of  these  famous  sons  of 
Center  Prairie  and  surrounding  territory  who  fought  in  the 
army  blue,  only  three,  George  Newberg,  August  Carlton  and 
George  Elliott  are  now  living. 

In  the  World  War 

A  history  of  the  patriotic  activities  would  be  incomplete 
in  this  year  of  grace  did  it  not  include  a  list  of  the  boys  of 
the  World  War  who  wore  the  khaki  of  the  army  and  the  blue 
of  the  U.  S.  navy.  The  honor  roll  that  stands  out  in  front  of 
this  church  contains  a  list  of  men,  who  risked  their  lives  that 
democracy  might  live.    They  are : 

Glen  Ostrom,  Raymond  Wall,  Arthur  Swanson,  Roy 
Gibbs,  Lew  Gibbs,  Charles  Carlson,  Sgt.  Harold  Elliott,  Ray- 
mond Elliott,  Charles  Warrensford,  Forest  Cain,  Machinist's 
Mate  2nd,  Edward  Elliott,  Paul  Mustain,  Clem  Cravens,  Ralph 
Mustain,  George  Todd,  Ervin  Moshier,  Earnest  Brown,  Ber- 
tas  Mackey,  Clarence  Spencer,  Fred  Steinman,  Robert  Kneer, 
Earl  Brown. 

The  Religious  Side 

The  early  settlers  were  not  satisfied  to  rest  at  mere  phy- 
sical and  intellectual  betterment,  but  above  all  they  were  relig- 
ious. At  first  they  met  at  the  homes  to  hold  worship  and  as 
soon  as  school  houses  were  built  they  took  the  place  of 
churches  until  churches  could  be  built,  so  that  when  old  Salem 
school  house  was  built  they  began  to  hold  meetings  there  and 


218 

camp  meetings  in  the  grove,  just  north,  and  later  the  Swedish 
people  held  camp  meetings  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  hollow 
from  the  American.  Then  when  the  Center  Prairie  school 
house  was  built  they  used  it  for  a  meeting  house,  both  the 
Swedes  and  the  English  speaking  people.  Louisa  Anderson, 
now  Mrs.  William  Seward,  tells  me  that  she  was  baptized  at 
the  school  house.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  prairie  had 
helped  to  build  both  Methodist  churches  in  Victoria,  but  were 
so  far  away  and  had  only  oxen  to  drive,  that  they  early  began 
to  feel  the  need  of  a  church  on  Center  Prairie  and  when  Peter 
Newberg  and  Exstrand  started  the  movement  to  build  a 
church  on  Center  Prairie  they  found  willing  hearts  and  hands 
to  help.  "Exstrand  was  a  very  bright  young  man,"  says 
Jonas  Olson.  "Perhaps  I  am  partial  to  him  because  he  was  a 
cripple  like  myself.  He  walked  with  a  crutch."  They  were 
ably  assisted  by  the  English  people  and  Swedes  alike,  one  of 
the  most  earnest  workers  being  Peter  Skoglund.  The  land 
where  the  church  now  stands  was  purchased  by  Adolphus 
Anderson  in  1855  and  he  broke  it  up.  In  1857  he  sold  it  to 
Lars  Johnson  and  he  in  turn  sold  it  to  Wm.  Hammerlund  in 
1858. 

For  a  consideration  of  fifty  dollars,  Hammerlund  sold  a 
piece  of  land  eight  and  one-half  rods  north  and  south  and 
seven  rods  east  and  west  to  the  Swedish  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  of  the  United  States  to  be  for  and  under  the  control  of 
the  Swedish  Methodist  church  in  Victoria  township,  Knox 
county,  Illinois.  The  money  to  build  it  was  contributed  by 
popular  subscription.  Many  volunteered  to  haul  a  load  of 
lumber  back  from  Galva  when  they  went  up  with  grain  and 
produce.  The  mason  work  was  done  by  Swenson  from  Knox- 
ville  and  the  carpenter  work  was  done  by  Peterson  Herdine, 
who  lived  in  Galva  for  so  many  years.  But  the  building  of 
this  church  in  1869  was  not  without  some  opposition.  Peter 
Chalman,  who  had  formerly  been  presiding  elder  of  the  Swed- 
ish M.  E.  church  of  this  district,  assisted  by  John  Wilson,  a 
cabinet  maker,  and  full  of  gab,  as  Andrew  Hartman  expresses 
it,  and  who  came  to  be  a  real  free  shouting  Methodist  and  who, 
wearing  no  suspenders,  in  the  heat  of  his  discourse,  is  said  to 
have  shed  his  raiment,  organized  about  three  quarters  of  a 
mile  south  of  the  school  house  a  Free  Methodist  church.  The 
money  was  raised  by  popular  subscription,  but  not  enough  was 
raised  to  pay  the  debt  and  so  the  trustees  paid  the  debt  and 
tore  down  the  church  after  some  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  In 
this  church  the  English  Sunday  school  was  held  for  many 
years.  Thus  Center  Prairie  has  been  supplied  since  a  very 
early  day  with  ample  church  facilities  and  I  hope  that  future 
historians  of  the  county  will  take  cognizance  of  this  fact  in 
writing  the  early  church  history  of  Knox  county. 


219 

The  Cemetery 

One  of  the  things  neglected  here,  as  in  all  newly  settled 
districts,  was  the  early  setting  apart  of  a  plot  of  ground  for 
a  public  cemetery.  The  early  settlers  buried  on  their  own 
premises.  The  Tabors  buried  on  what  is  now  the  John  Saline 
place,  the  Stuarts  on  the  Stuart  place,  the  Arnolds  on  the 
Arnold  place,  the  Cliffords  on  the  Dr.  Craven's  place  where 
old  "Bobby"  Armstrong's  first  wife,  who  was  a  Clifford,  is 
buried.  It  was  not  until  about  1858  that  the  family  of  Jim 
Thomas  who  owned  the  farm  where  the  Center  Prairie  ceme- 
tery is  located,  lost  several  children  with  diphtheria  and  buried 
them  there  and  when  he  sold  the  place  to  Olof  Bowman  he  re- 
served the  present  plot  for  a  burial  ground  and  later,  at  the 
suggestion  of  William  Messmore,  deeded  it  to  Knox  county  for 
a  public  cemetery.  Center  Prairie  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude 
to  John  Thomas  for  this  generous  gift  and  can  best  repay  it 
by  seeing  that  it  is  always  properly  kept  up.  The  present  neat 
appearance  is  due  largely  to  the  good  work  of  William  Eng- 
land, Charley  Larson  and  Victor  Larson,  who  were  selected 
by  their  neighbors  to  solicit  funds  and  have  it  taken  care  of. 

As  To  Utensils 
The  early  settlers  had  very  few  of  the  comforts  of  life  as 
we  view  them  now.  There  were  few  simple  cooking  utensils. 
The  writer  has  an  old  kettle  that  his  grandmother  has  baked 
many  a  corn  pone  in  by  placing  coals  under  the  kettle  on 
the  hearth  of  the  fire  place  and  putting  coals  on  top.  All  the 
clothes  were  made  of  wool  or  flax  raised  in  the  neighborhood 
and  spun  and  woven  into  cloth.  Much  of  the  caiTDet  woven 
in  this  locality  by  Aunt  Margaret  Larson,  Adolphus  Ander- 
son's first  wife,  was  made  on  the  old  loom  of  Mrs.  Thomas 
Elliott,  that  she  used  to  weave  the  woolen  and  Lindsey-Wool- 
sey  out  of  which  she  made  the  clothes  and  blankets  to  keep  her 
family  warm.  It  is  only  within  the  last  few  years  that  this 
loom  has  been  destroyed. 

Practically  all  this  whole  prairie  was  broken  up  with 
oxen.  Burgess  Elliott,  Lars  Ostrom,  Martin  England  and 
Adolphus  Anderson  did  much  of  this  work.  For  this  work 
they  used  a  28  or  32  inch  breaking  plow  drawn  by  from  four 
to  six  yoke  of  oxen.  Some  of  the  back  furrows  can  still  be 
see  on  the  Martin  England  farm  where  Mr.  England  now  lives. 

At  first  the  ground  was  very  wet  but  within  a  few  years 
a  ditching  machine  which  pressed  a  round  hole  about  three 
feet  under  the  ground  and  about  the  size  of  a  six  inch  tile  was 
used.  This  took  the  place  of  tile  which  came  later  and  did 
very  well  in  an  early  day,  but  the  hole  was  gradually  enlarged 
by  the  water  until  the  top  caved  in  and  started  large  ditches. 
Well  does  the  writer  remember  when  his  folks  moved  south  of 


220 

the  school  house,  of  crawHng,  as  a  boy,  for  rods  in  these  blind 
ditches  as  they  were  called.  As  people  in  the  present  day  go 
to  tractor  demonstrations,  so  in  those  days  would  the  people 
come  long  distances  to  see  new  and  improved  machinery. 

The  sickle  and  scythe  were  not  much  used  here  to  cut 
grain,  but  the  cradle  was  although  it  was  soon  succeeded  by 
the  McCormick  reaper  on  which  one  man  sat  and  drove  and 
another  stood  and  raked  the  grain  off  in  sheaves  for  the  bind- 
ers to  gather  up  and  bind.  The  first  self-raking  reaper  used 
here  was  owned  by  Adolphus  Anderson  and  his  nephew,  Frank 
Anderson,  tells  of  its  first  use.  It  was  used  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  north  of  where  the  church  now  is  about  1857  to  cut 
wheat.  They  used  oxen  on  the  tongue  and  horses  in  the  lead. 
Frank  says  he  rode  the  horses.  Among  the  men  binding  were 
J.  K.  Robinson  and  Manford  Mosher.  Frank  says  thev  had 
molasses,  ginger  and  water  in  a  pail  and  a  long  black  bottle. 
Charles  Clark  and  many  others  came  to  see  the  new  reaper 
work.  Robinson  says  Frank  carried  the  water  and  bottle  and 
took  toll  for  carrying  it  to  the  others.  Thus  does  the  historian 
find  himself  in  a  maze  of  uncertainty  as  to  the  true  facts. 

In  those  early  days  all  the  corn  ground  had  to  be  marked 
out  both  ways  and  planted  by  hand.  The  tools  they  used  to 
tend  it  with  were  the  hoe,  single  shovel,  double  shovel  and  bar 
share  plow.  It  would  look  funny  nowadays  to  see  one  plowing 
corn  with  oxen  as  Ben  Nelson  did  about  1860  on  the  place 
where  Fred  Holstrum  now  lives. 

Old  Conveyances 

Your  historian  has  had  much  pleasure  looking  over  the 
old  conveyances  of  the  Patty  place,  the  Arnold,  the  Stuart,  the 
Peter  Anderson,  Louis  Osstrum,  Eli  Johnson  and  others.  He 
has  seen  more  patents  by  the  government  to  land  in  the  last 
week  than  in  his  whole  life  time  before.  Cliff  Gibbs  has  the 
original  patent  to  Tom  Stuart  from  the  government  signed 
with  the  president's  name.  That  is  what  is  known  as  a  sheep- 
skin. Besides  a  patent  which  is  in  effect  a  government  deed, 
there  were  issued  to  the  soldiers  of  1776  and  1812  land  war- 
rants. This  was  a  privilege  to  locate  a  quarter-section  of  land 
in  this  military  district,  enter  the  land  at  the  land  office,  sur- 
render the  warrant  and  get  a  deed  in  the  form  of  a  patent. 
Eric  Ostrom  has  such  a  patent  issued  in  1817  to  Cornelius 
Riorden,  sergeant  in  Nelson's  company  of  infantry  of  the  U. 
S.  after  he  had  deposited  a  land  warrant  in  the  land  office  that 
was  issued  on  the  soldier's  bounty  land  of  the  territory  of  Illi- 
nois in  1817.  On  the  same  day  Riorden  deeded  the  land  to 
Alexander  Cooper  and  the  deed  is  written  on  the  back  of  the 
patent.  It  is  sure  a  curious  document.  In  those  days  land 
titles  were  not  so  carefully  recorded  and  there  was  more  or 


221 

less  counterfeiting  of  land  transfers  and  the  country  was  in- 
fested with  swindlers  known  as  land  sharps.  It  is  said  that 
Pete  Skoglund  paid  for  his  land  two  or  three  times  rather 
than  go  to  law  about  the  title. 

But  we  must  not  think  that  all  the  life  of  these  ancestors 
of  ours  was  bereft  of  enjoyment.  They  lived  in  a  land  of  milk 
and  honey  and  had  much  to  be  thankful  for.  One  of  these  was 
a  famous  peach  orchard  owned  by  Tom  Stuart.  They  were 
real  peaches,  says  Jonas  Olson,  and  I  can  readily  believe  him 
for  you  can  always  trust  a  boy  to  know  where  there's  a  water- 
melon patch  or  a  real  peach  orchard.  With  an  ancestry  such 
as  this  it  behooves  us,  their  descendants,  to  follow  the  advice  of 
the  poet  who  says : 

"Let  us  then  be  up  and  doing. 
With  a  heart  for  any  fate, 

Still  achieving  and  pursuing. 

Learn  to  labor  and  to  wait," 


222 
TOPOGRAPHICAL  MAP  OF  KNOX  COUNTY 

This  map  of  Knox  County  shows  the  stream  and  water- 
shed system  of  the  county ;  its  valleys ;  the  elevation  of  prin- 
cipal points  above  the  sea  level ;  and  the  number  and  location 
of  the  coal  veins.  These  veins  are  numbered  from  the  bottom 
up,  the  lowest  vein  in  the  county  being  No.  1,  and  highest  No. 
6,    The  forested  areas  are  as  a  rule  contiguous  to  the  streams. 


223 


MAP  OF  KNOX  COUNTY 

The  following  map  shows  the  townships  and  railroads  and 
the  older  municipalities  of  the  county,  along  with  several 
neighborhood  centers.  Williamsfield  in  Truro  township,  and 
East  Galesburg  in  Knox  township  are  later  towns  on  the  Sante 
Fe.  Hermon  in  Chestnut  township  is  on  the  Fulton  county 
branch  of  the  Burlington,  formerly  the  Narrow  Gauge.  Sum- 
mit on  the  Peoria  Branch  is  better  known  as  Douglas. 


224 

MUNICIPAL  NOTES 
Yates  City 

In  Salem  township  are  Yates  City,  Douglas  and  Union- 
town.  The  last  was  surveyed  and  platted  in  1839.  It  was  in 
the  earlier  days  a  point  of  much  importance.  Luther  Carey 
opened  the  first  store  there  and  Jacob  Booth  and  Moses  Shinn 
a  blacksmith  shop,  and  they  made  plows  and  wagons.  Thomas 
Griggsby  began  brick  burning  in  1845.  The  first  school 
opened  in  1843.  The  building  of  the  railroad  elsewhere  killed 
its  prospects. 

Douglas,  sometimes  called  Summit,  was  laid  out  October 
17,  1856,  and  it  developed  from  the  building  of  the  Peoria  line 
of  the  Burlington.  It  has  been  a  lively  trading  point  and 
has  maintained  a  number  of  stores,  and  had  excellent  facili- 
ties for  handling  grain.    It  maintains  a  good  school. 

Yates  City  is  the  principal  municipality  of  the  southeast 
part  of  the  county,  and  is  at  one  of  the  Burlington  junctions. 
It  was  laid  out  in  1837  by  William  and  A.  C.  Babcock,  Thomas 
Maple,  Rufus  H.  Bishop,  Bostwick  Kent  and  James  Burson. 
James  Burson  erected  the  first  business  house;  John  Donne- 
maker  opened  the  first  hotel,  and  Isaac  West  erected  the  first 
dwelling.  Buffum  and  Enable  established  a  grain  warehouse. 
A  good  flouring  mill  was  built  in  1868.  Brick  and  tile  were 
formerly  manufactured  in  large  quantity. 

The  Harvest  Home  Association,  which  has  made  Yates  City 
famous  for  its  annual  celebrations,  was  established  in  1886, 
largely  through  the  efforts  of  Editor  McKeighan  of  the  Ban- 
ner. 

The  saloon  which  from  1857  had  fastened  itself  on  the 
city  was  wiped  out  in  1875  and  with  the  exception  of  1888  and 
1895  was  kept  out.  Good  banks  have  for  years  furnished  ex- 
cellent financial  facilities.  The  city  has  a  first  class  line  of 
business  houses. 

The  first  postoffice  was  opened  in  February,  1859,  with 
J.  M.  Corey  as  postmaster. 

Yates  City  was  chartered  on  March  4,  1869. 

For  many  years  Yates  City  has  maintained  a  high  stand- 
ard of  schools.  Among  those  who  were  its  principals  were 
the  late  W.  L.  Steele,  so  long  superintendent  of  the  city  schools 
of  Galesburg,  and  W.  F.  Boyes,  present  county  superintendent 
of  schools. 

Of  the  Yates  City  churches,  the  First  Presbyterian  was 
organized  November  16,  1866,  and  the  Methodists  completed 
an  edifice  in  1868. 


225 

Also  fraternally  Yates  City  is  strong  and  it  has  witnessed 
the  organization  of  Masonic,  Odd  Fellow  and  Modern  Wood- 
men lodges,  and  a  Grand  Army  Post. 

Yates  City  has  for  many  years  maintained  a  strong  poli- 
tical influence  in  the  county,  and  one  of  its  best  known  young 
men,  Frank  L.  Adams,  has  for  years  served  efficiently  as 
county  clerk. 

Maquon 

The  village  of  Maquon  is  situated  on  or  near  the  site  of 
the  old  Indian  village  at  the  north  line  of  the  township  and 
was  surveyed  by  Parnach  Owen  in  1836,  who  assisted  by  sev- 
eral others  laid  out  the  village.  For  several  years  it  had 
neither  religious  or  educational  institutions,  but  was  the  site 
of  a  distillery  and  race  track,  according  to  Gale's  history  of 
the  county.  Both  these  long  since  disappeared  and  years  ago 
Maquon  took  its  place  as  one  of  the  model  communities  of 
Knox.  The  village  was  incorporated  March  4,  1857,  and  its 
population  by  1880  had  reached  548.  The  first  building  in  the 
village  was  Cox's  tavern,  built  by  Benjamin  Cox,  and  for 
twenty  years  used  as  barracks,  kept  by  Nathan  Barbero.  John 
Hippie  conducted  the  first  store  in  a  building  erected  by  Mat- 
thew Maddox  in  1839.  For  forty  years  there  has  been  no  sa- 
loon in  Maquon.  The  business  interests  are  well  represented 
by  well  conducted  stores  and  banks. 

The  business  portion  of  Maquon  has  experienced  six  dis- 
astrous fires  all  of  them  of  doubtful  origin. 

Prior  to  1848  Maquon  schools  were  held  in  rooms  furnished 
by  Nathan  and  Calister  Barbero,  but  in  that  year  a  substan- 
tial brick  building  was  erected.  The  initial  attendance  was 
175  pupils.  The  Maquon  school  for  many  years  has  been  con- 
sidered one  of  the  best  in  the  county. 

Maquon  has  responded  nobly  to  all  patriotic  demands.  In 
the  Civil  War  a  full  quota  of  250  came  from  the  village  and 
township. 

The  village  is  well  supplied  with  fraternal  organizations, 
which  provide  a  congenial  social  life. 

Rapatee,  also  in  Maquon  township,  was  founded  in  1883, 
with  the  building  of  the  Iowa  Central  in  1883.  It  was  laid  out 
by  Benjamin  Adams  and  A.  B.  Stewart  was  its  first  mer- 
chant. 

Rio 

Rio,  in  Rio  township,  was  platted  in  1871  by  William  Rob- 
inson, and  was  first  called  Coburg.  The  pioneer  store  was 
built  by  Messrs.  Schroeder  and  Owens.  Nelson  Coe  was  the 
first  postmaster.  Rio  has  always  had  enterprising  merchants, 
and  has  been  a  good  trading  center.    Since  its  founding,  there 


226 

have  been  organized  there  Masonic,  Odd  Fellow,  Modern 
Woodmen,  Eastern  Star  and  Home  Forum  lodges.  The  place 
also  maintains  religious  worship. 

An  Early  Inventor 

Some  mention  has  been  made  elsewhere  of  the  inventors 
of  the  county  who  contributed  to  its  agricultural  development. 
Mention  should  be  made  of  Riley  Root,  who  seemed  to  be  the 
inventive  genius  of  the  colonists.  Among  other  things  he  pro- 
duced the  rotary  snow  plow,  a  device  for  clarifying  cane  or 
corn  syrups,  and  a  surveyor's  level. 

Ambassador  to  China 

A  Galesburg  and  Knox  County  boy,  Edwin  Hurd  Conger, 
rose  to  high  distinction  after  graduating  from  Lombard  col- 
lege in  1832  and  serving  through  the  war,  where  he  was  brev- 
eted as  major  for  gallant  service.  In  1880  he  was  elected  State 
treasurer  of  Iowa.  In  1886  he  was  elected  to  Congress  and  was 
twice  re-elected.  President  Harrison  appointed  him  minister 
to  Brazil  serving  until  1893.  In  1897  he  was  reappointed  to 
the  Brazil  post  but  in  1898  was  transferred  to  China,  where 
he  served  with  distinction  for  a  number  of  years  and  where 
during  the  Boxer  uprising  he  was  a  conspicuous  international 
figure. 


227 

ILLINOIS 
By  W.  F.  Boyes 

Such  gratitude  as  is  due  the  pioneers  of  Knox  County 
is  likewise  due  those  who  had  made  IlHnois  a  commonwealth 
of  the  Union  before  this  county  was  settled.  One  of  the  b't- 
terest  and  most  significant  political  contests  ever  wa<?ed  made 
Illinois  a  free  state  in  1824,  and  before  our  county  history  be- 
gins the  boundaries  had  been  established  and  forces  set  at 
work  that  were  to  make  this  state  a  most  important  factor  in 
the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

The  territory,  now  Illinois,  was  claimed  by  the  French 
from  the  days  of  Marquette  to  the  Treaty  of  Paris  in  1763. 
From  1763  to  the  conquest  of  George  Rogers  Clark  it  was 
British  territory.  The  Treaty  of  1783  confirmed  Clark's  con- 
quest and  gave  Illinois  to  the  United  States.  But  one  of  the 
great  difficulties  of  the  early  government  of  the  nation  was 
the  territorial  claims  of  the  different  states.  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut  and  Virginia  all  claimed  territory  lying  within 
the  present  State  of  Illinois.  The  cession  of  Virginia  was 
made  in  1783. 

Kaskaskia,  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Kaskaskia  river, 
and  Cahokia,  a  few  miles  below  East  St.  Louis,  were  the  earl- 
iest permanent  settlements.  This  state  was  settled  by  people 
from  the  north,  east  and  south.  Each  of  these  directions 
brought  its  own  peculiar  characteristics  and  customs.  Two 
groups  of  families  directly  from  England  settled  in  Edwards 
county  in  1816  and  1817.  It  is  said  that  no  other  district 
created  such  wide-spread  interest  in  Europe  as  the  Illinois 
country. 

Upon  the  British  occupation  of  the  territory,  many  of 
the  French  emigrated.  Development  in  Illinois  was  at  a 
stand  for  years.  The  white  population  within  the  present 
state  was  probably  not  more  than  1,000  in  1800.  The  most 
marked  development  of  the  country  began  upon  the  organiza- 
tion of  Illinois  as  a  separate  territory.  In  1818  the  popula- 
tion was  about  40,000. 

Slavery  was  introduced  into  the  territory  by  the  French 
in  1721.  Nothing  was  said  in  the  treaty  of  cession  to  Great 
Britain  about  slaverj%  but  such  chattels  were  held  in  Illinois 
as  British  territory,  just  as  when  it  was  French.  The  United 
States  in  turn  agreed  to  guarantee  to  the  people  security  in 
person  and  effects.  So,  notwithstanding  the  ordinance  of 
1787,  slavery  was  for  years  a  fact.  Under  the  early  state  gov- 
ernment, what  was  called  the  Black  code  recognized  the  insti- 
tution and  then  came  the  great  campaign  of  1824,  under  Gov- 


228 

ernor  Coles  which  made  it  clear  that  Illinois  was  to  be  a  free 
state. 

The  Indians  within  the  state  caused  much  trouble  at  dif- 
ferent times.  The  Ft.  Dearborn  and  Wood  River  massacres 
were  the  most  serious.  But  many  lives  were  taken  by  Indians 
during  the  War  of  1812  and  later. 

At  first  there  were  two  counties  in  the  present  Illinois 
territory — St.  Clair  on  the  west,  where  most  of  the  inhabitants 
were,  and  Knox  on  the  east.  Later  Randolph  was  organized 
from  the  south  part  of  St.  Clair.  Then  came  Clark,  Edwards, 
White,  Monroe,  Crawford  and  Jackson.  There  were  fifteen 
counties  when  the  state  was  admitted  in  1818. 

The  population  of  the  new  state  was  exceedingly  mixed, 
there  were  few  towns  of  any  importance,  the  roads  were  paths 
through  the  woods,  there  were  practically  no  schools  and  al- 
most nothing  in  the  way  of  public  worship.  But  the  climate, 
the  soil,  the  natural  resources,  the  great  waterways,  were  here. 
The  progress  of  the  people  has  been  commensurate  with  the 
development  of  the  state,  and  it  is  to  commemorate  Knox 
County's  part  in  this  wonderful  progress  of  a  hundred  years 
that  this  book  is  published.  The  committee  of  Knox  County 
Board  of  Supervisors  in  charge  of  the  publication  is:  C.  H. 
Pulver,  chairman;  Milton  Deatherage,  and  Clarence  R.  Lacy. 


I   \   D  K   X 

In  this  work,  the  townships  are  alphabetically  arrang^ed.  The  following 
index  refers  to  the  more  important  points  of  the  worli,  the  numbers  indi- 
cating the  pages  on  which  reference  to  each  item  may   be  found: 


— A — 

Abingdon — 4S-60,    118. 
Abingdon  College — 4S. 
Agricultural      Development — 22. 
98,    156,    167,    168,    171,    21U,   220. 
Altona — 201-202. 
Ambassadors — 20,    226. 
Amusements — 160,   166. 
Appleton — 154. 


122,    132, 


107. 


Banking — 21. 

Bee    Hunting — 200. 

Births,   Early — 64.    100,    107. 

142.    149.    170,    185.    198. 
Black    Hawk    War — 10,    42. 

108.   124.  132.  141. 
Bridges.     First — 133. 
Brimfield — 67. 

Cedar  Township — 34-61. 

Center  Prairie 212-221. 

Cemeteries — 62,     149.     219. 

Cherry    Grove    Seminary — 46. 

Chestnut  Township — 61. 

Child  lost — 70. 

Churches,    Early — 50,    63.    68,    89,    90, 

101. 
Circuit  Bench — 21. 
Coal — 68,  146.  171. 
Company   C,   I.    N.   G. — 93-96. 
Congressmen — 1  7. 
Conveyances — 220. 
Copley    Township — 64. 
County    Business,    Growth    of — 9. 
County  Home — 9. 
Court   Houses — 9.    107,    131. 
County   Seat   Contest — 8,    9.   97. 

— D — 

Dahinda — 154. 
Deaths.    First — 107.    149. 
De  Long — 144. 
Douglas — 67. 

Early    Settlements,     Knox    County — 

27.   33. 
IClba  Township — 6C. 
Elm  wood — 67. 
Emigration — 57. 
Etherly — 65. 
Eugene — 67. 

— F — 

Farm  Bureau — 22,  23. 


Farming — 69. 

Farmington — 67. 

Farm    Products    and    Prices — 67,    77. 

114,    199. 
Fires— 117,     175.     180.     181,     202,     205, 

214,   217.   218. 
Flood — 205. 
Forts — 85.    109. 

— G — 

Galesburg — Academy.  86;  Annals,  7;!; 

Colony.     109;      Knox     College.     86; 

Lombard      College,      87;      Plan      of 
founders,   73,   77;  Schools.   81. 
Game — 147.    201. 
Gilson — 102. 
Glenwood — 67. 
Golden    Circle — 153. 
Government — Commission.  6;  Judges, 

6;    Supervisors,    7. 

— H — 

Harrisonville    and   Hermon — 63. 

Harvest    Home — 173. 

Haw   Creek    Township — 100,    104. 

Hedding  College — 48. 

Henderson    Township — 105-112. 

Henderson   Village — 111. 

Hermon — 63. 

Historical    Association,    Centennial — 

3,   4. 
Hospitals — 91. 
Houses,    First — 62,     66,     SO.     103,     106. 

109,  123.   142,  159,   160,   167,   172,   197, 

198. 

Illinois— 227. 

Indians- 42.   66,   64.   100,   113.    122.   127. 

131,    140.    148,    184,    197.    article    on 

207-211. 
Indian  Trail  map — 208. 
Indian    Point    Township — 113    120. 
Industries — 54.  141.   143.  178,  200. 
Inventor,  Early — 226. 

— K— 

Knox  College— 86-87. 

Knox  County  Annals — 5-27:  Agricul- 
tural Development.  22-23;  Agri- 
cultural Board,  123;  Banking,  21; 
Growth  of  Knox  County  Home 
9;  Court  House  Erection,  9;  County 
Officers,  23:  County  Seat  Contest, 
8-9;  Government,  6:  by  Judges,  6-7; 
Townshij)  organization,   7;   Growth 


1    \    1)    K    X 


— K — 

(Clint ill iii'<l ) 

cf  I'opulation,  10-12;  Municipali- 
ties, 11;  Political  History,  in  Con- 
gress, 17;  in  Legislature,  18-21; 
Railroads,  14-15;  Religious  growth, 
lo-14:  School  Development,  14-15; 
Statistics  of  Population,  13;  Town- 
ship officers,   24-27. 

Knoxville — 33,    67-124. 

Knox   Township — 121,    12G. 

— L — 

Land  Prices — 33,  38. 

Legislature — 18,    21. 

Library — 170,  203. 

Liberty  Loan — IS,  60. 

Lincoln — 43. 

Lincoln-Douglas  Debate — 92. 

Log  Cabins  and  Furnishings — 43,   44. 

71,    78,    110.    124,    125,    215,    218. 
Log  City — 78. 

Lombard  College — 87,   88,   89. 
Lynn    Township — 127-130. 

— M — 

Maquon — 225. 

Maquon  Township — 131-132. 
Markets — 44.  130,  144,  199. 
Marriages,    First — 36,    61,    66,    83,    109, 

123,    132,    142,    149,    186,    198. 
Medical     Aid — 45. 
Middle   Grove — 172. 
Mills — 62   64,   68,   SO,    102     108,    111.    117, 

141,   145,   150,   152,   154,   170,   1S6,   200. 
Mormon;? — 197-198. 
Municipalities — 11. 

Newburg — 67. 
Newspaiiers — 118,   170. 

— O— 

Old    Settlers'   Association — 123. 
Ontario   Township — 134,    140. 
Orange    Township — 140-144. 

— V — 

Pastimes — 102. 

Persifer    Township — 145-163. 

Pioneers — 35,     85. 

F'ioneer  Schools — 32. 

Population — 10,   12,   13. 

Postal     Facilities — 63,     68,     103,      109, 

111,    123,    150.    193,    199.    200. 
Prairie  State   Oil   Co. — 155. 


Raili'oads- 
175,   201. 
P.apatee — 225 


— R — 

16,     65,     92, 


11.     IM,     166. 


Religious  Growth;  First  Churches 
—13-14,  SI,  89,  90,  91,  107,  115,  130, 
137,  138,  139,  142,  143,  155,  176,  177, 
178,    179,    192,    193,    203,    217,    218. 

Rio — 225. 

Rio    Township — 163-169. 

Roads,    First — 109,    191,    192. 

— S — 
Salem  Township — 170-173. 
Saloons — 118,    224.    225. 
Sparta  Township — 174-177. 
Schools — 14,    15,    45. 
Schools,     First — 62,     64,     66,     81,     101. 

109,   115.   129,   132,   136,   142,   150.   171, 

182.    185,    189,    198,    215. 
Settlers,    First — 64,    66.    106,    111,    113, 

131,     140,     163,     164,     170.     174,     178, 

1S4,    197. 
Settlers.     Where     From — 34,     37,     64, 

73,    100,    105,    114,    127,    128,    131,   134, 

140,   141,   142,   147,   163,   164,   179,   212. 

214. 
St.    Augustine — 117. 
State  Commissions — 21. 
Stores,  First — 67,   85,   101. 
Storms — 35.    70,    120,   158,   216. 
Stoves — 44. 

Sunday  Schools — 39,    116. 
Supreme    Bench — 21. 


-T- 


123 


Taverns — 63. 

186,    202. 
Teachers!    Early — 81. 
Townshi])   Officers — 24-27. 
Township     Organization — 7, 

68,    102,    143.    170.    174.    178, 
Travel,   Methods   of — 67.    84, 

150. 
Trenton — 152. 
Truro    Township — 178-181. 


129,    145.    161,    174, 


63,      65, 
194. 
101,    128. 


— U — 

Underground    Railroad- 
Uniontown — 172. 


!0,    173.    175. 


Victoria,    Village — 186,    187. 
Victoria    Township — 184-196. 

— AV — 

Walnut    Grove — 197. 

War — 16,  17,  63,  124,  132,  144.  165.  172. 

181,    217. 
War  Record — 58.   72,   92. 
Wataga — 175. 
West.    Mary    Allt-n — 32. 
Williamsfield — 67.    179. 


-Y — 


Yates    City — 224. 


r^ 


